


His Irish Angel PT 5 : The Darkening

by DavinaCFox



Series: His Irish Angel [5]
Category: Gotham (TV), Would You Rather (2012)
Genre: Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Attempted Sexual Assault, Bondage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, Emotional strength, Escape, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Family Issues, Forgiveness, Guns, Healing, Heartache, Hope, Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Loving Marriage, Masturbation, Mental Instability, On the Run, Oral Sex, Plants, Strong Marriage, Threesome - F/M/M, True Love, Unrequited Love, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2020-12-24 17:47:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 104,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21103478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DavinaCFox/pseuds/DavinaCFox
Summary: Molly and Oswald are settled back in Gotham with their family. Then Julian's sense of reality distorts as he begins to fantasise about her – leading to disturbing behaviour and an attempt at rape. River concludes the formula she used to save him after Bane's attack has revived old scar tissue that once carried the Tetch virus – and kind and gentle Julian Cobblepot is once again becoming Julian Lambrick, violent rapist.Heartbroken Oswald refuses to have him locked away indefinitely in Arkham, instead agreeing to Julian having surgery that will cure his insanity - but leave him as damaged as when he was rescued from Ashecliffe asylum. Refusing to give up on her step son, Molly defies Oswald's decision,  rescuing Julian from the hospital and risking her own safety by taking him on the run with her in search of the one person who may be able to save his sanity - Ivy Pepper - as Oswald and his men set off on their trail. But Ivy has become very dangerous since living in seclusion in her poison forest since the days of the war, and Molly's mission of mercy may turn out to be a disaster as she walks into what could be a deadly trap for all concerned...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BraveVesperia01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BraveVesperia01/gifts).

> Here is Part 5 of His Irish Angel.
> 
> Please be aware chapter 1 contains scenes of a sexual assault/attempted rape.  
There will be no actual rape in this story.  
This is a heavy emotional rollercoaster.

Chapter 1

It was a fine summer morning as Molly stood at the window, looking out across the driveway and past the trees to the view in the distance of Gotham City. She smiled as she thought how fast the time had gone by since the battle with Bane, and how quickly the city had recovered from it.

The old dockyard was opened once more and the memorial park to remember the fallen was blooming well in its second summer. Three months before, April had given birth to her first child, a daughter named Alicia. She and Jax were overjoyed to welcome their new arrival, and Jax had been given leave to spend time with his new family while Josh tended to the day to day duties of his boss. Not that there was much to do, because the underworld was at peace once more...

Oswald had no concerns for the underworld as he slept on, not even hearing the birds singing in the trees as the sound carried through the open window. Molly smiled as she looked at her husband, her chubby Penguin was on his side, the sheets half off his body as he breathed softly against the pillow. His spiked hair was messed up by sleep and half falling in his eyes as he turned on to his back and the sheets slid down lower and she took in the sight of his naked body. He was covered in old scars from long forgotten gang battles and fights with enemies, and she loved every part of him from his busted ankle to the scar beneath his hairline, the legacy of that terrible day ten years back when Jeremiah Velaska had almost killed him...

And here they were years later, in Oswald's family home, raising Cain and Luna and little Felix. Cain was ten years old now and looked just like his father, Luna was almost five and spent every weekend at _Fish Mommy's_ house. Fish was so different now Luna knew the truth, and although Molly hadn't voiced it aloud, tough Fish Mooney was a lot softer these days because her daughter was in her life, she could see it in her eyes and she smiled more, too – though she felt sure Fish would deny it if she ever pointed that out...

As the morning air carried through the window, Molly went back over to the bed and sat on the edge of it, sliding the sheet off Ozzy's hip as she leaned closer, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. He gave a sigh and turned his head as Molly got on the bed, then laid beside him naked as she ran her hand over his hip, feeling the bumpy texture of an old scar beneath her fingertips. They had such a peaceful morning ahead of them, Felix was still asleep and Cain wouldn't be up until at least seven thirty. Her Dad was coming over soon, he would be staying in the city, where he would be meeting up with Connor. He was so proud of his son, and so thankful Strange had revived him - and given him the gift of healing. Molly was also proud of Connor, but mostly, she was just thankful her brother's life had been restored. He lived in an apartment in the heart of the city with his partner Alex, and she saw them as often as she could.

There was a lot more room in this house now April had moved out to start a family with Jax, and River and Victor were living above the Iceberg Lounge. But the bedroom at the end of the hall still belonged to Iris and Julian. After all his adopted son had been through, Oswald was glad he was happy to live at home because he never wanted to be away from him again.

While the house was silent, Molly smiled as she shifted closer to Oswald, feeling his cock harden as she stroked it lightly.

“Molly,” he said, giving a sigh of contentment as he opened his eyes, “Good morning, my dear.”

“Good morning to you, my chubby Penguin,” she whispered, kissing him softly as she slid her hand up and down his growing hardness.

Oswald broke away from their kiss, shifting position to lean against his pillow as he looked down at her hand working on him, making his erection harden.

“You've got a lovely cock,” Molly said softly, and Oswald gave another sigh, leaning back as he closed his eyes, parting his legs wider as she traced a path of kisses down his body, lingering here and there to brush her lips against old faded battle scars on the body of her chubby Penguin.

“_Oh Molly...”_ Oswald whispered, running his hand over her hair as she took him in her mouth, _“Oh yes... that feels so good... suck me harder!”_

Molly released him, replacing her mouth with her hand, jerking him gently as she looked up from between his legs and met a gaze darkened with the need for orgasm.

“I love your body, Oswald.... your scars,” her other hand swept over his damaged knee, _“Your shattered leg... the bullet wounds... my warrior!”_

Oswald looked down again, thrusting up to meet her movement as his cock started to leak and she circled her thumb over the head, making it shine. As she flicked her tongue over the sensitive wetness he gasped.

“_Your warrior will be blowing his load all over your face if you keep talking like that!”_

Molly's hair trailed his body as she sucked him again, then stopped and teased him lightly with her tongue once more. Oswald shivered and caught his breath. Molly kept him on the edge, sliding her hand up and down his hardness firmly, but just enough to hold him back.

“Does my brave, battle scarred hero want to come?”

“_Yes!”_

His face was flushed and he was panting hard.

“Tell me how much you want it, Oswald.”

He was too near the edge to hold back as once again the way she turned him on worked its magic, making a stream of filth flow from his mouth as he told her exactly what he needed.

“Make me come, Molly! I want to come so fucking bad!”

“I want to see it happen,” she murmured, shifting position, now she was up on her knees, her legs parted as he watched her pump his cock close to her bare pubic mound.

“_Do you want to cover this shaved pussy in come?”_

“_Yes! Fuck yes!”_ Oswald gasped, and he trembled and tensed as hot semen spattered her bare sex, covering her pale flesh and the glimpse of pink within as it ran down her body. He was still shaking as the last of the orgasm leaked out, then he slumped weak on the bed as she climbed off and grabbed a tissue to clean herself up. She glanced back at her Oswald, on his back and breathing hard, perspiring from that good orgasm.

“Want to join me in the shower, love?”

He laughed softly as he looked at Molly standing there naked, still as beautiful and perfect as the day he had first seen her nude in his bedroom - although perhaps now she was even more beautiful with those tiny stretch marks on her belly, a reminder of the months she had spent carrying his three children.

“That was so good I can barely move. But I love you so much!”

“And that's what I like to see,” Molly told him, pausing to lean over and kiss him, “My Oswald, weak from a hard come, and thoroughly satisfied!”

She turned away and headed for the bathroom. Oswald heard sounds coming from the room across the hall and gave a sigh, sitting up and reaching for his dressing gown. Cain was awake. While Molly showered he would go downstairs and give their eldest son his breakfast – if Felix didn't wake first, otherwise Cain would be going downstairs alone to have cereal while he saw to the baby. It was a good life, he thought to himself as he got out of bed, tied his robe and reached for his cane, times had been hard in the past, but he had so much to be thankful for – he loved his wife so much, and they had three beautiful children. He had never imagined he would one day have a wife like Molly who loved him so completely. On a day like this, he felt as if nothing could ever go wrong in their lives again...

While Oswald was busy with the kids as Molly took her morning shower, in the bedroom at the end of the hall, around the corner and set a short distance away from the rest of the upper floor, Iris and Julian were waking behind the closed door of their bedroom. Julian was resting his head on her shoulder as Iris opened her eyes, and as she smiled, she placed a kiss on the side of his head, her lips brushing his fair hair as his pale gaze met hers.

“Good morning, Iris,” he said with a smile, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

“I had a crazy dream last night.”

She ran her hand over his shoulder, then down his arm, and as she felt his erection pressing against her thigh she shifted her other leg a fraction, giving it a soft squeeze.

“I hope it was hot... Looks like someone's turned on this morning...”

Julian's gaze didn't leave hers as he laughed softly.

“No, forget it... I can't remember, I just know it was crazy...”

There was a sparkle in her eyes as she swept her hand over his hair, beneath its silky softness she felt the scars on his head, that forever reminder of his horrific ordeal at Ashecliffe, and then the treatments to save him... River had succeeded, too – not once but twice, his sister had saved him thanks to her skill after Bane had almost killed him. Ultimately Fish Mooney had healed him, but River had been the one to save his life. Iris never forgot how close she had come to losing him. Sometimes she and Molly talked alone together about their experiences, because Molly had almost lost Oswald when Jeremiah had kidnapped him ten years before and that had stayed with Molly as much as Iris never forgot almost losing Julian....She felt a rush of emotion as she looked into his eyes, but Julian didn't spot it as he kissed her cheek.

“I'm getting up early today,” he said, and then he let go of her and turned his back and sat up.

Iris lay there feeling a little rejected – when Julian was hard, he was usually begging to go into their playroom and be put in restraints. He was hooked on bondage, hooked on being the submissive. But clearly, he was not in the mood, and that was unusual.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Julian turned around, naked and with his erection noticeably fading out.

“I'm fine,” he replied, “I just wanted to get up early. I don't know why,” he laughed softly as he shook his head, “Maybe it wasn't a crazy dream, maybe it was a nightmare. You know when you dream something and you can't remember, but a feeling stays with you?”

Iris nodded.

“I've had that once or twice.”

“And it doesn't mean a thing,” Julian replied with a shrug, “It was just a crazy dream, but I need to get up. I'll cook breakfast and bring it up to you.”

He kissed her cheek and headed for the shower before she could say another word. Iris shrugged off her curiosity - everyone had dreams, and once in a while, a strange one wasn't unusual, surely... and it was early, too. So she settled back down, rolling over to the side of the bed that carried the scent of his skin and closed her eyes, drifting back to sleep as the sound of the water running drifted out from the en suite bathroom.

In the bathroom, Julian was naked under the shower, his back against the wall as he closed his eyes, every muscle in his body tense as he relived it all in his mind :

_That dream had not been easily forgotten. _

_He couldn't wipe it from his mind if he wanted to, and now, it wasn't fading out but getting stronger... _

_It wasn't the first time either. But fuck, this time it had been so real he could feel himself coming inside her..._

He was getting hard. He kept his hands at his sides.

“_Don't...”_ he whispered, screwing his hands into tight fists as he tried to ignore the ache between his legs as he thought about that dream and got hard again.

That beautiful fucking dream that should be horrible, but wasn't, was a mix of memories clashed with fantasy as he recalled his life as Julian Lambrick and then remembered the thrill of stalking the halls of his father's house to find Iris, then attacking her, pinning her down as he tried to force himself on her... He had got off on that power, on the need to just take her... And something deep inside his mind was wide awake, reminding him he wasn't a Cobblepot, not really. _He was Julian Lambrick and that was who he needed to be again... _

That dream wouldn't let go. Julian stood tight against the wall of the shower as that water ran and his hands stayed in tight fists.

“_Don't think about it!”_ he whispered.

But he did, he thought about that dream and it was taking over :

_Maybe the first part had happened, before he was cured by Fish. _

_He was in bed and Molly sat beside him and drew him into her arms. He felt the softness of her breast against his cheek as she stroked his face. He looked up into her eyes. Molly was beautiful..._

_Yes, that happened. _

Before Fish used her energy that had... Shit, he realised the truth now : Before Fish had zapped him with her energy, that scar tissue deep in his head was threatening to activate again, that tissue left behind from the day River fixed him after she cured the damage caused by the experiments on Shutter Island. River had said, there was a risk that the formula she had used could cause old memories to take over. It could change his personality.

_Was he changing?_

_Was it such a bad thing?_

_His old persona seemed to disagree..._

This other person, the one changed by the Tetch virus experiments felt so much stronger now. Shepard Lambrick's spoiled brat son who took what he wanted...

_No, not Iris. _

_Not her, not his love. _

_He would not do that to Iris again._

Julian blocked that thought out, but the dream about Molly came rushing back again and now it wouldn't let go:

_Sunlight spilled into the bedroom. Molly was standing there with her back to him, in a long silken gown with lace that covered the back and plunged low. Her hair was hanging loose and as she turned around, he was in the doorway with a smirk on his face._

“_Julian?” she said, standing there with that low cleavage almost spilling out. The light from the window was bright and that fabric was thin. He could make out the shape of her pussy through the material and wished she would spread her legs as she stood there, just to tease him a little more. _

“_What are you doing in here? I was about to get dressed,” Molly said, looking at him in confusion._

_Julian smoothed down the fabric of the pale jacket he wore over his t shirt and walked over to her, with eyes like a wolf set on its prey._

“_I just wanted to thank you for how you looked after me when I was injured by Bane,” he said, and he looked into her eyes and saw something there that he was sure was attraction. Maybe she was holding back and struggling with it, maybe she thought of him with her hand between her legs every time she was alone... _

_That was certainly going to change._

_He took a step closer and placed a hand on the dresser as he leaned in closer still, his gaze locked with hers, then he smiled, laughed nervously and spoke again._

“_The way you took care of me, Molly. It's something I'll never forget....” he smiled again, took his hand off the dresser and placed it on her arm, “You were so kind to me. I remember how you held me close.”_

_Molly looked utterly confused._

“_I was helping you communicate. You had trouble staying conscious before Fish healed you. And you don't have to thank me, sweetheart.”_

“_But I do,” he whispered, and her expression changed to one of alarm as he his grip on her arm tightened as he grabbed her other arm too, pulling her close with brutal force._

“_You,” he said in a low voice as he leaned closer, “Could have done so much more if you wanted to. I would have liked it. I know you wanted to suck me off while I was lying there in bed!”_

_Her eyes widened._

“_No!” she exclaimed, “Christ, Julian, what's got into you? I would never.... you're Oswald's son... and you were hurt at the time, oh my god, why would you say that?”_

“_I know you want me.”_

_Her back hit the mattress as he pinned her down, then he heard fabric rip as he tugged up the hem of her gown all the way to her waist, looking down at her naked body, her legs were open and she was aroused, he could see her wetness._

“_Let me go!” she protested._

“_You want this, I know you do!” Julian said in a low voice as he tugged at his zip and freed his erection..._

He knew it had just been a dream. The kind of dream he would have liked in his old life, when his head was full of the Tetch virus...

But he was still there, his eyes closed and lost in the fantasy under the water as he stood in the shower, as in his mind the bed jolted as he fucked her hard, and then as he came deep inside her his hand was wrapped around his cock as he jerked it hard, spilling come into the shower as it hit the floor and started to circle the drain as it washed away.

Julian opened his eyes, watching his semen run away in a spiral as the shower rained down. He stepped away from the wall, closed his eyes and let the water hit his face, then he swept his hands over his hair, trying to wash away the thoughts that were growing stronger by the minute.

_He knew he was going crazy._

_He had just come over that dream about forcing himself on to Molly. The thought of Molly made a need that was dark inside him stir again, even now after orgasm..._

Julian turned off the water and took a deep breath.

“_You're going crazy,” _he whispered.

Then blood spots hit the wet floor. He wiped his nose. _Shit, this was a warning sign... _He ran his hand over his hair again as water ran down his back, and then he stepped out of the shower, he had the nose bleed to deal with and then he would wash away the blood.

As for those terrible thoughts... he was feeling more like Julian Lambrick with every passing minute. Something had woken up inside him, and it was taking over. The more it took over, the more he felt like his old self again, the _real _Julian. He just wanted to hide it from Iris...

Fifteen minutes later, he found Molly in the kitchen. As he walked in Julian stopped, staring at her as she stood with her back to him. She was wearing tight blue jeans and a black vest that clung to her curves. Her hair was damp from the shower and had that slight wave to it that she always got when it was wet.

_He wanted to..._

_No!_

_What the hell was he thinking?_

A huge wave of horror and remorse washed over him as he blinked and felt as if his old life had just let go of him, now he was Julian Cobblepot again and... _He had dreamed about raping Molly? He had just masturbated in the fucking shower over it? _

“I'm so sorry!” he said tearfully.

Molly turned away from the kitchen counter and looked at him in surprise. Julian was standing there looking tearful and pale and shocked and... scared? She hurried over to him. Julian looked absolutely terrified...

“What's wrong, sweetheart?” she asked kindly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

It was hard to look her in the eye.

“I...I had a freaky dream.... I can't remember it but I think it was a nightmare... Sorry... sorry I'm such a mess today.”

Molly stepped closer, putting her arms around him and giving a reassuring hug as he loosely held her and froze with a look of fear in his eyes. _She was holding him. And he had just come over the thought of... No. He couldn't handle this..._

“It's okay, Julian,” Molly said softly, “I know, you've been through a lot, it's not surprising you get scary dreams sometimes. You went through hell at Ashecliffe with the experiments, then Bane almost killed you... I know you've been thought a lot. And it's okay, you're safe now.”

_But you're not,_ ran though his mind, and suddenly the thought was funny. He stepped back from her embrace with a smirk on his face as he laughed and shook his head.

“Sorry about this bullshit.”

He looked at her again, thinking about that dream. Suddenly the dream wasn't so terrible. It was taking hold again...

“Where's my Dad?” he asked, glancing to the empty table.

“Oswald had breakfast with the boys, now he's out in the garden with Felix while Cain kicks a ball about and hopefully doesn't crack any windows, and I'm in here clearing up after them and then washing up. Please, if you're going to cook breakfast for you and Iris, can you be quick about it? You know I like to have the kitchen clear after breakfast time.”

Julian smiled.

“Anything for you, Molly!”

She laughed.

“Okay, if you're feeling helpful just get the breakfast out of the way, I'll grab a coffee and spend some time with your Dad and the boys – Oswald's on the phone taking business calls, he's giving Josh instruction on what paperwork needs to be done while Jax is on paternity leave...at least he can focus on the phone if I'm watching the kids.”

She turned away to make coffee. He stood there looking at her. Suddenly that feel of his old self from the bad old days taking over, completely vanished. He was Julian Cobblepot again, and thinking how terrible his thoughts had been.

_God help me, I'm going crazy, _ ran through his mind, then he blinked away tears and spoke up again.

“You should spend some time outside with my Dad,” he said, “I'll wash up – I'll clean the kitchen too.”

Molly had just made coffee. She turned around with the mug in her hand and a look of surprise in her green gaze.

“Bloody hell, what's got into you!” she exclaimed with a smile, “Okay, you take care of it, you're welcome to it, Julian! I'll be outside if you need me.”

Then she turned away and went outside. Julian felt tears sting his eyes again and he quickly wiped them away and then started to cook breakfast for Iris. He didn't cook for himself. He didn't feel like eating. The way his mind had shifted so sharply from terrible thoughts and back again made him want to puke.

Molly joined Oswald in the garden, sitting beside him on the bench as he finished his call to Josh, then he put his arm around her and smiled.

“With no problems in the underworld, my business is concluded for the day.”

“Does that mean I have you all to myself?” she asked softly.

Oswald had a sparkle in his eyes as Molly ran her hand over the tips of his spiked hair.

“I doubt that,” he said, “Unless Iris and Julian are free to have the kids for a while, I don't think I'm exclusively yours!” then he laughed as Felix toddled up to him and raised his arms.

“Up, Dada!” he said, and Oswald leaned down and lifted his son on to his lap.

Molly smiled as Oswald bounced Felix on his knee as he laughed, then she watched as Cain played on the swing. The sun was shining, it was a perfect day.

“I know I've said it a thousand times,” Molly said as she turned her head and the breeze passed through the garden carrying with it the scent of roses, “But I love you, Oswald Cobblepot.”

He smiled brightly as joy shone in his gaze.

“I love you too, my dear,” he said softly, “And yes, you have said it a thousand times – actually, much more than a thousand. Possibly a million!”

“And I'll say it many more times,” she assured him, feeling contented as they sat there together under a summer sun set in a clear sky that seemed to give the promise that nothing could go wrong on a day like this one.

Julian cooked breakfast for Iris then took it upstairs and while she was having breakfast in bed, she paused to look at him in confusion as he opened up the closet and started to sort through his clothing.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he replied, “Just, rearranging things...”

She gave a shrug and got on with breakfast.

Iris hadn't noticed Julian was selecting clothing that reminded him of the kind of stuff he used to wear – light coloured suits and t shirts, and lining them up on one side of the wardrobe. While he did that, he was thinking about Molly again and this time he felt no remorse. It was as if something powerful was wrapping itself around his mind and squeezing tightly. But that other thought remained :

_Not Iris._

_Never hurt Iris again. _

The weekend went by peacefully.

On Sunday evening, Fish stopped by to bring Luna home, and Molly noticed how happy Fish looked these days. Yes, having her daughter in her life was definitely doing wonders for her, and Luna was always so happy to see her, and gave her big hugs before she left again. Earlier that day Molly had spoken to April on the phone and promised to go over and see her later in the week. April was doing just fine with her newborn, and Jax sounded so proud as he spoke about how wonderful it was to be a father at last. She didn't doubt their little family would be a happy one.

Later that evening Oswald's leg was painful and Molly gave him a massage to ease the stiffness, then she called River, who was out for dinner with Victor at the time. River told her she would stop by tomorrow after she finished work at the clinic and prescribe some pain relief. She was used to her Dad having these bouts of deep pain, it was years of limping around on a damaged leg that had done it, and some days it was worse than others. She advised Molly to give him another massage, and Molly ended the call and turned to Oswald with a smile, assuring him he wouldn't be thinking about his leg for much longer.

That second massage had turned into a full body massage followed by Molly climbing on top so he didn't strain his leg, and making slow and gentle love to him. Oswald slept well that night, in her arms. Neither of them knew life was about to take a terrible turn for the worse, in a way no one would have expected...And it wasn't going to be a threat from an old enemy or an underworld rival, instead it would come from within the family - River's prediction over her fears on administering the formula that saved his life after Bane's attack was about to be fulfilled - Julian was about to go insane...

Next morning Molly and Oswald got up early because Felix woke at dawn, then Luna woke too and they were soon joined downstairs by Cain and they had breakfast together. Cain and Luna were ready for school in good time as Molly insisted she would take the kids because Oswald's leg was still painful.

“No Molly, I'll be fine. I love taking the kids to school – and while business is quiet and I have no trouble on my hands, I'd rather take advantage of that fact and do the small things that matter most,” Oswald told her as he leaned on his cane and got up from the breakfast table.

“And I want you to stay here and rest!” Molly insisted as she cleared the table.

“_Let me help.”_

They both looked to the doorway.

“Morning Julian!” Cain said brightly.

Julian smiled fondly at his little brother and then to Luna.

“Morning, leprechauns!”

“I'm not a leprechaun!” said Luna as she ran over to him and looked up at him with a smile.

“No you're not,” Julian told her, “You're a Penguin Fish!”

“No!” she said as she gave a little jump, “I'm a _fish leprechaun_!”

As she laughed Julian gave her a hug, then he let go and turned to Cain.

“I think Dad should take you both to school. And your Mom should sit down with a coffee while I clear away breakfast and wash the dishes.”

Molly looked at him in surprise.

“Again - I've never known you to be so helpful!”

Julian couldn't look at her as he gave his reply, he had woken up that morning in full control again, with his other actions the day before somewhere at the back of his mind where they sunk heavy with regret.

“I should do more around here. I love you all so very much.”

“And we love you too, son!” Oswald said, limping over to him and giving him a brief hug, then as he let go, he felt a wave of emotion that brought back too many bad memories as he looked into Julian's eyes. He cherished his son, and he had almost lost him – twice.

“I appreciate your suggestion,” Oswald said, “But I think Molly's right – I do need to rest my leg. I'm long overdue a course of painkillers from River.”

“Then you rest and I'll take care of the kitchen for Molly,” Julian said.

Molly gave a sigh.

“At last! Yes, Oswald, sit down and rest!”

Just then Felix toddled into the kitchen holding up his empty sippy cup.

“You want some more juice?” Molly asked, and her little boy nodded, the cup still held up towards her.

Julian was still standing there. He had watched Molly as she refilled her son's juice cup, and as she gave it back to him, he felt that darkness creeping through his thoughts once more as a new idea came to mind:

_Molly was still young enough to have more kids. _

_His kids._

_She would be a great mother to his children..._

_Maybe they could leave Gotham together._

_She wouldn't want to go, not at first._

_But after a while, he would make her forget Oswald and the rest of the family..._

Julian blinked. He caught his breath and turned away quickly, wishing he could shake off the sudden, crazy ideas. He almost bumped into Iris as he turned for the door. She put a hand on his arm as she laughed at their near collision and he forced a smile and she didn't notice he was faking it as she looked into the kitchen.

“How's your leg this morning, Oswald?” she asked.

“Stiff,” Oswald replied as he stood there leaning on his cane, “I'm resting it today. I know when it's time for medication again.”

“Have you called River?”

Iris looked worried. Oswald smiled kindly, appreciating her concern.

“I have, and my daughter will be over to see me later today when she's finished at the clinic,” he straightened up a little, leaning lighter on the cane as he spoke again, “This is no more than a minor but very long term inconvenience, Iris. I'm capable as ever – I've lived with this for more years than I care to recall.”

“And you're definitely not driving today!” Molly reminded him, noticing the way he was testing that leg by leaning less on his cane.

He turned to her in a fluid movement that was a little too quick for his aching joints as a flicker of pain registered on his face.

“Yes Molly, I am definitely not going anywhere today!” he confirmed, then he limped off towards the front room to sit in his favourite chair with his foot up on a cushioned footstool as Felix toddled after him with his sippy cup in his hand.

“I'll take the kids to school,” Iris offered, and she smiled warmly.

“That would be great, thanks,” Molly told her, “I've got Luna's bed to make and Cain's room looks like a bomb's dropped - as usual!”

“That's a good plan,” Julian agreed as he put the dishes in the sink, “You take the kids to school and I'll clear up the kitchen.”

Iris looked at Julian playfully.

“Don't break anything, you know how clumsy you can be!” she teased.

He laughed.

“I'll be careful Iris.”

She turned to the kids.

“Ready for school?” she asked brightly.

A short while later, Iris was taking the kids to school while Felix sat on the rug next to Daddy's chair watching cartoons on the TV. Oswald gave a tired sigh as more pain shot through his aching leg, and he sipped his tea and set it down, thankful to be home and resting because constant pain like this was tiring. The sooner River got here, the better...

Molly was upstairs alone, she had just made Luna's bed and then set her rag dolls back on the shelf and sat her two Jemima dogs on the bed, then she left the room and crossed the hall to go into Cain's room. She stopped at the door, getting the oddest feeling that someone was in the hallway... she turned her head, saw no one and shrugged it off, then went inside - and almost walked out again at the sight of Cain's bed covers half off the bed, and a toy box spilled out all over the floor.

She went over to the toy box and started putting everything back inside, then she stopped again, as that feeling of eyes burning into the back of her neck made her turn her head. The open doorway was empty.

“You're tired, that's all,” she muttered.

Molly finished putting the toys back and then she closed the lid and went over to the bed and smoothed down the sheet and placed the pillows neatly and gave the cover a shake and laid it neatly over the bed. Then she turned for the door, and stopped, getting a jolt of alarm – although she wasn't sure why – it was only Julian standing there in the doorway...

“You made me jump!” she said, laughing it off.

Julian stood there in a pale suit with a white t shirt beneath it, leaning casually against the open door as he looked at her.

_He was still looking at her._

He never looked at her that long – not in that way, what ever _that_ was supposed to mean. Something felt odd about the whole situation, but she just couldn't figure it out...

“Sorry,” he said, laughing softly as he paused to turn his head, glancing back towards the stairs, then he looked at Molly once more.

“Actually, I wanted to see you alone.”

“What's the matter love?” she asked.

And as that darkness that had taken over again crept strongly through his mind, her calling him_ love_ seemed to confirm to all he had been as Julian Lambrick that yes, she wanted him, of course she did... she just wouldn't say so. He would have to force that out of her, once they got closer...And that was going to happen any minute now...

He walked over to her and looked into her eyes as he placed his hand on her arm.

“I remember when I was injured, after Bane – and you held me close?”

Molly smiled as fondness shone in her green gaze. She didn't like to think about Julian's brushes with death any more than she cared to recall the time she had almost lost Oswald, but these things had happened and no one could ever forget the worst of times.

“We all took care of you, not just me,” she reminded him.

Julian recalled his dream. This was so much like it, as if it was playing out for real. Now he knew this could only go one way... Suddenly every thought he had ever had about Molly since the darkness had descended hit him at once as desire filled his gaze.

“Can I talk to you about my adopted father?”

That question surprised her.

“I know Shepard put you through hell, Julian. But he's dead now...” Molly reached out and fondly swept a lock of fair hair from his brow, “Try not to think about the bad times, sweetheart. It's over with now.”

Julian blinked. Then he smirked and looked away, resisting the urge to laugh out loud.

“Julian?” Molly said in confusion.

His fingers tightened slightly on her arm as he looked back at her.

“No, Molly. I mean, my _other _adopted father. Your husband. I don't doubt that he loves you - but does he make you happy?”

Molly stared at him.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” she said sharply.

Julian laughed as he shook his head.

“You don't get it, Molly,” he stated, then he lost the look of amusement as he gripped her arm tighter and leaned closer – too close – and whispered in her ear:

“_I've been thinking about us!”_

“Us?”

Molly's reaction was utter confusion. This was Julian, sweet natured Julian who had been through hell and come out the other side, who was loved by all the family because he was such a kind and loving guy. He couldn't be talking like this, not Julian...

“_I've fucked you in your bed,” _he whispered, _“I've ripped off your panties and pushed my cock inside and fucked you hard and you pretended not to like it, but you came while I was inside you! I've walked into the bathroom and seen you naked and spread your legs and licked your pussy...You're always teasing me! I know what you want, Molly... Come here, kitty cat...”_

He pushed her on to her son's bed. Shock hit her long before any urge to fight back kicked in.

_This was Julian. He just wouldn't. This couldn't be happening... _

Molly gave a gasp as he pinned her down, tugging on his zip to free his erection as he held her there, leaned closer and tried to kiss her. She turned her head sharply and he licked up her neck, then his hand shot down to her jeans as he popped the buttons and slid his hand into her underwear. He was breathing hard as he looked into her eyes.

“Don't fight me,” he whispered, “Don't fight _this_, Molly...”

_And it hit her as the shock wore off. _

_This was happening. _

_Julian was trying to rape her._

Molly struggled as a surge of adrenaline kicked in, and he pulled his hand out of her jeans and clamped it to her throat. He closed his fist and smacked her cheek and that was the last chance he got as her rage hit peak.

“_Don't make me hurt you, Julian!”_ she hissed as he squeezed harder and she dragged in a breath.

“_GET THE FUCK OFF ME BEFORE I KILL YOU!” _she yelled.

She raised her knee, missing his groin as he moved and she smashed into his inner thigh. He let go of her throat as he gave a yell of pain and then lunged again as they rolled to the floor with a thump. Molly aimed another punch and he ducked and forced her legs apart. Blood was running from her nose as she lashed out again, hitting him in the face.

Oswald had heard his wife shouting and he had limped quickly up the stairs, the pain in his leg insignificant as he reached Cain's room and saw Molly on the floor just as Julian grabbed at her legs, tugging on her jeans as he knelt between her parted thighs. Her jeans were open, her underwear was partly pulled down, and his pants were down to his knees and he was....

_He was trying to rape her?_   
Oswald picked up his son's bedside lamp to smash it over his head, but just then Molly punched him in the side of the head, and Julian fell back unconscious.

“Molly!” Oswald said in horror as he set the lamp down and limped over to her.

“_I'm okay...”_ Molly gave a sob and wiped blood from her nose, _“I'm... I'm okay...”_

She sobbed again as she got up and pulled up her jeans and then ran a shaking hand through her hair. She looked at her husband with eyes wide as her face paled and tears streaked her face.

“_He just went crazy...”_ she said tearfully, shaking her head as she looked down at Julian, unconscious on the carpet.

Oswald was still feeling the impact of the shock. It seemed impossible, even though he had just seen it with his own eyes...

_Julian had just tried to... _

_No, he couldn't process it. This was Julian, his son, his kind and sweet son who would never... _

_But he had just witnessed it..._

“He.... he just tried to...” Oswald could barely drag the words out.

Molly nodded, then anger blazed in her eyes as she looked down at Julian.

“_He tried to rape me!”_ she sobbed, _“Oswald, he just tried to -”_

“You're safe now,” Oswald vowed as his voice trembled, then he pulled her close, holding her tightly as she wept against the fabric of his suit and he looked down at his son:

It was unthinkable, but the unthinkable had just happened, and he was just thankful she had been able to fight back, because he had almost been too late. His son was still out cold and he didn't know whether he should put a bullet in his head or call the cops.

_It was still sinking in. _

_Julian had tried to rape Molly..._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“What are we going to do?”

As Molly asked that question in a hushed voice, she was on the bed, sat there in a bathrobe after taking a shower. A small bruise was faintly visible on her jaw and she was still pale and every time he looked at her, Oswald wanted to kill his adopted son. He limped over to Molly and looked down at her as pain reflected in his eyes.

“Thankfully River came over right away, and she's still with him. She's got him sedated now - so you're safe, Molly. If you want to call the cops, I'm fine with that! We will handle this any way you see fit.”

He blinked away tears as he struggled to keep his emotions under control. Molly didn't need to see him fly into a rage at Julian, and he still wanted to do that. But Molly had said to call River, because River had said there was a risk of his old memories taking over after she had treated him following the assault by Bane, and if that was the reason for his behaviour, she wanted to know he was getting help. Oswald didn't feel any concern for his son at that moment. He had seen Julian attacking his wife. He was still in shock over that and all he could feel was cold rage towards his adopted son. River had insisted on speaking to Molly before she saw Julian, and Molly had said at once that she was fine, she had managed to fight him off. Molly didn't feel fine, she felt devastated. But for her, it had been a fight that she had won, and Julian wasn't much of a fighter, so after the initial shock of what was happening had sunk in, the situation had been easy to contain. But that shock was still settling as she thought about what had happened. She wondered how long he had been changing and how long he had thought about attacking her. She had only noticed a change in him for a brief time, but it must have been coming on for a while. Days, weeks, months, even...

“Ozzie,” she said, “We can't turn him over to the police. He's a leading politician and this could harm the underworld's position within the city government – including yours. It could set us back years! We have to think about the wider picture here – and Julian wouldn't have done this unless there was something very, _very_ wrong with him! I think I know what's happened, I remember, River said his scar tissue could reactivate. I don't think the Julian we knew and loved would _ever_ have done that to me unless he had no control or choice!”

Oswald slowly nodded.

“Yes, Molly, we should think about our role in city government,” he agreed as he spoke softly, looking into her eyes as he placed his hand gently on her shoulder, “But my dear, he did a terrible thing!”

“And let's see what River has to say about it first,” Molly reminded him, “If he's sick, he needs help. If he's not, then we need to think about turning him over to the cops – quietly. But whatever the cause, we have to do something, Oswald.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “We will, Molly. You can be sure he will never get the chance to attack you again!” Oswald paused, drawing in a slow breath as he struggled to contain his emotions, “I feel sick every time I think about it!” he said tearfully.

Just then River came into the room. She looked to her Dad, then to Molly, and her heart ached for both of them. They wanted an answer, and she knew they would get one. She was already sure after checking him over, she knew what was happening to Julian.

“I'm going to take him over to the clinic and keep him in a secure room, he's sedated so he's no threat at this moment – my staff are very discreet,word will not get out that a member of the city council is being held there, I need to scan him, but I have to warn you in advance that he's showing signs of the scar tissue reactivating. I noticed on his last scan the area had darkened, I believe it was caused by the formula I gave him to stop the bleed after Bane injured him, that possibly combined with the power surge from Fish when she healed him. It's most likely made the scar tissue from the experiments with the Tech virus reactivate, and it's causing old memories to take over and alter his personality, he's switching between being the Julian we know and love to being Julian Lambrick, infected with the Tech virus and reliving his memories of being a dangerous and violent rapist. If I'm right about this, he has no control or choice over his actions and this isn't his fault, it's the Tetch virus scars to blame._ And me.._.” she blinked back tears, “I'm also to blame for giving him the agent that put him at risk of this happening in the first place. Ultimately, it's _my_ fault.”

“No it is not!” Oswald insisted as he looked at his daughter, “River, you saved his life!”

“And now this has happened,” she said, “Dad, I gave him a high risk medication. I saw changes on his brain scan but he said he felt fine and I believed him. It's taken almost a year for this to advance, and it's going to keep on advancing if my theory is correct.”

“What can you do about it?” Oswald asked.

River fell silent for a moment, then she shook her head.

“After you got him out of Ashecliffe, I revived him and cleaned out as much of the damage as I could. He would have been fine for the rest of his life if not for the incident with Bane...he's absorbed all of the energy Fish gave him, and now that tissue is active, he can't take a healing attempt by Connor because any kind of power surge would just feed it. Radiation can't destroy it either and would have the same effect. Remember, I repaired his damaged tissue with a formula to regenerate and rebuild pathways in the brain. The scar tissue is awake now and rewriting the new cells. There's nothing I can give him to stop this or wipe it out.”

Molly had been sitting there in silence as she listened.

“What will happen to him if this theory of yours is right?” she said quietly.

River took a deep breath.

“He will eventually stop switching, having no more lucid moments. He will go completely insane and once the whole of the brain is taken over, he won't last long. He's got maybe a year before that happens. We don't have many options and none of them are good.”

Oswald still had cold anger in his eyes as he thought of what Julian had done to his wife.

“What are these options, River?”

“I could have him placed in Arkham, he would have to be kept in a secure cell, they would most likely keep him restrained and sedated at all times and he would stay that way until he dies. Or he could have surgery but that would mean a very complicated procedure to remove the scar tissue. It would mean physically cutting into the brain and cutting the tissue out. He would come out of that no better than when you got him out of Ashecliffe, Dad. And there's no more options to cure him, he would be severely damaged with no hope of recovery.”

Oswald felt an ache deep in his heart. He was still caught between shock and anger at Julian's actions, but if River was right, he didn't want to believe there was no hope left. But even though if she was right and it meant he was unable to control his actions, he had still tried to rape Molly, and he had to be sure his son would never be able to do anything like that ever again...

“And how sure are you about this diagnosis?” he asked.

“I'm expecting the scan to confirm it,” River told him, “There's no way Julian would have done something like this unless the scar tissue had reactivated. I know what the result will be.”

“Then you had better take him to the clinic and do that scan,” he replied, turning away as he looked to Molly, “Call me when you have the result.”

“Yes Dad, I'll do that,” River replied in a hushed voice, then she left the room.

Molly got up as a look of worry clouded her eyes.

“I should go downstairs to Iris, I need to talk to her.”

“You will stay up here and rest,” Oswald told her, “Let me talk to Iris.”

Molly nodded.

Oswald left the room and closed the door as Molly sat there alone as tears stung her eyes. Iris had been devastated to return home and learn what had happened. At first she had refused to believe it, then she had seen the bruise on Molly's jaw and the look in her eyes and then she had gone upstairs to see Julian on the floor, still out cold. In that moment the day he had tried to rape her back at Shepard's house came flooding back and she had gone back downstairs, sobbing as she said she never wanted to see Julian again. Now she was in the front room, watching Felix while she drank a small brandy Oswald had poured to help her with the shock. Oswald was yet to drink, he didn't even feel the need to calm himself, being caught somewhere between numbness and white hot rage.

River took Julian to the clinic. Oswald had helped to put him in the back of the car and then turned his back and limped away towards the house, feeling as if today, he had lost a son. While Molly and Iris sat together in the front room and Molly told Iris about River's theory about the scar tissue, Iris had shook her head, then said, _He tried it with me, and now he's done it to you. I don't care what caused it, Molly. The way I feel at this moment, I never want to see him again..._

A short while later, Victor called.

“I heard the news from River,” he said, “I'm glad Molly's not hurt and I'm so sorry about your son. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Oswald gripped the phone tighter as rage burned in his eyes as at the back of his mind, he saw that image he couldn't forget of Julian on the floor, pinning Molly down.

“Thank you Victor, but the situation is contained,” Oswald replied in a hushed voice, “There's no need to have him killed – although I feel like it! Julian will not be a threat for much longer. There are choices that need to be made, we're waiting on his scan results.”

There was a brief pause on the end of the phone.

“No Boss,” Victor added cautiously, “I wasn't suggesting killing Julian! River told me all about the reason, about the scar tissue. She said he's losing himself and old memories are taking over. He can't fight it. She said he wasn't responsible for his actions and he won't live much longer if it's not treated, and that the only treatment option will ruin his life... I just wanted to say, I'm sorry Molly went through that, and I'm sorry about your son.”

Victor's words had gone deep. It had suddenly hit Oswald that anger had made him numb to the rest of the facts : If River's theory was correct, Julian really did have no control over his actions. And this would get worse without treatment. He would die...He felt a flicker of pain in his heart, then pushed it aside._ Julian had assaulted his wife. He was going to pay for that. _

“Thank you Victor, but we can handle this.”

“Can you?” Victor asked carefully, “I realise you're devastated right now, but you have to think about what's happening here... How does Molly feel about the situation, with Julian?”

“She loathes him as much as I do!”

“Are you sure you don't want to talk about this, I could come over tomorrow?”

“I can manage, thank you, Victor,” Oswald assured him, “I'm waiting for River to call with the scan results. And I sincerely hope there is a physical cause for Julian's behaviour – of not, I will see to it that he goes to jail. What he has done is unforgivable!”

Victor reminded him once again he was there if he needed to talk, then after assuring him that he was just fine, Oswald ended the call.

_But Oswald was not okay._ Somewhere at the back of his mind, the thought was starting to register that he was going to lose his son – even if he had the surgery, Julian's life would be wrecked by it, there was no way he could save him from harm, not this time.

_But he had attacked Molly._

That stood out above all the other facts as he sat in the front room and steadied his nerves with a drink. Molly was making herself busy with the kids, blaming the bruise on her jaw on an accident in the garden.

_They had to protect the kids from this._

_They didn't need to know the details, perhaps not ever. _

The thought of sitting down with Cain and explaining that Julian tried to rape Molly was unthinkable - Oswald couldn't face doing that now, or in ten years time...

“We can't let the kids know anything,” Oswald said as Molly entered the study and he noticed she still looked pale, “It's too horrible, they can never know. I'm determined to keep this from them.”

Molly stood there looking at Oswald, seeing despair in his eyes as her heart ached for him and for herself and also, for Julian. The man they knew and loved would never have done that, not to her or anyone – it was the scar tissue that was to blame, not Julian, she felt that strongly, and was sure she was right. But Oswald wasn't going to see it that way, not her old fashioned, gentleman husband who couldn't get over the shock of what had happened. Oswald was only thinking of the attack, not the cause, or the consequences, or the fact that his son was in great danger.

“Ozzie,” she said as she walked over to him as he sat in a favourite chair at the darkened fireplace, “You can't blame Julian.”

He drew in a sharp breath and looked up at her as anger burned in his eyes.

“Yes Molly,” he replied darkly, “I _do_ blame that twisted little bastard for everything he's _ever _done wrong! He tried to rape Iris whilst under the influence of the virus -”

“That was years ago!” Molly exclaimed.

Oswald shook his head.

“No, Molly. Look at the facts. Shepard abandoned him at Ashecliffe asylum because he had a breakdown after his mother's death and it affected his behaviour. Maybe he was going insane even back then!”

“No!” Molly said in alarm, “Christ almighty Oswald, you should hear yourself! He was vulnerable and Shepard had him used for experiments to create the refined Tetch virus! He wanted to recreate it and make it stronger so he could make a fortune selling the vaccine to wipe it out! The real monster here is Shepard and he's dead now, it's pointless wasting anger on a dead man!”

Rage still simmered in his pale gaze as he reached for his glass and drank from it slowly. Then he lowered it and looked at Molly over its rim as he kept his voice low, remembering Cain was upstairs and Luna and Felix were in the garden with Iris.

“I don't give a damn about a dead man,” he stated, “I'm talking about Julian! Iris wasn't the first person he attacked -”

“Because he was affected by the Tetch virus!”

“And even though we tried to fix him and edit out his past memories, it didn't work, Molly. Maybe that experiment created something indestructible, have you thought about that possibility? Maybe this was always going to happen, without the formulas to fix him and Fish using up her healing ability to cure him after Bane's attack. Maybe it was always there, sleeping, waiting for the time to wake up and turn him back into the monster he used to be!” Oswald blinked away tears, “I can't pity him, Molly. Not after what he did to you and when I think about how he behaved when his name was Lambrick, I'm starting to wonder if the virus can be blamed for any of it. I don't want my son to spend his last days in Arkham.”

“So you do care what happens to him.”

“I didn't say that! I never want _anyone _connected to this family locked away in _that _place! But if it is the scar tissue and surgery can cure it, I'll be satisfied he's been set right. In fact, that would save his life and ensure he's never a risk again. And I will strongly advise Iris to start her life over without him, she's done enough for him, she needs to break free from this situation and make a new life for herself. She's already said she wants to leave him. No one would blame her for walking away after what he did – and if he has the surgery, it's not fair to expect her to stay around to look after him, knowing what he was once capable of. I think that's the best we can hope for, Molly. That surgery can cure him.”

Molly's eyes widened as she looked in alarm at her husband as he poured another drink.

“Do you realise what you're saying?”

Oswald forced a brief smile the took another sip of his brandy and looked up at her.

“Yes my dear, of course I do! I'm not deranged like Julian. I'm fully aware of _my _actions.”

Molly blinked away tears as she looked at Oswald, sitting there coldly plotting this outcome as if he was taking revenge on an underworld rival back in the old days.

“_He's your son!”_

“Molly, he's behaved in a terrible way and this needs to be corrected. His only chance of staying a part of this family is to have the surgery - assuming the scar tissue is to blame. He doesn't have to live here afterwards, Molly. You don't ever have to see him again. We can put him in a nursing home.”

Molly stared at Oswald. He looked back at her, confused by the look on her face.

“I think perhaps you're still in shock. I'm here for you, Molly. I won't leave your side. I know how much you love all the family but you can't afford mercy to one who has sinned against you that greatly.”

She was still staring at him. In that moment she wondered if she knew her husband at all.

“I know what you went through in Arkham years ago! You told me all about the torture. Is that why you want this for Julian? You think because you killed people in underworld disputes, that maybe you deserved to be tortured?”

Oswald gripped the arm of the chair tightly. Molly had just touched a raw nerve as he thought about the violence of the old days and the cost of becoming king of Gotham.

“I was a violent man with a lot of blood on my hands and that was how the city dealt with criminals at the time,” he replied stiffly, then he grabbed his drink and sipped it again, “I have explained this to you and it is all in the past.”

Molly stepped closer, glaring at him.

“You had blood on your hands so that justifies the torture you went through? Don't you realise what you're saying? You think Julian deserves to end up as damaged as he was after he came out of Ashecliffe, because of what the scar tissue made him do to me? What are you saying, that it's okay to slice people up and destroy their minds as long as they're no longer a threat to society? What era do you live in Oswald? This isn't the dark ages, we don't do that shit to people any more because it's _not_ okay!”

Oswald took a deep breath, holding back his anger as he reached for her hand, taking hold of it gently as he looked up at her.

“Molly, you're still in shock. All we need is confirmation from River, and he can have the surgery. It will save his life and it will prevent him from ever being a threat again. At least he gets to live.”

She pulled away from his grip as hurt registered in his eyes. Molly had never pulled away from him, never looked at him the way she did at this moment.

“If it's not the scar tissue, we'll talk to Jim Gordon about how to proceed, get him a psychiatric assessment, find out if he's sick or if he did this deliberately! But if it is the tissue, we need to be compassionate, Oswald...” she took in a sharp breath as she fought back tears, “I think I know what River will say about his scan. He's been acting weird for a while, he came up to me the other day looking absolutely terrified and said sorry to me! He was like a frightened child, Ozzie! I think he had no control over what's happened to him!”

“I can't waste pity on an animal who tried to rape my wife,” he stated, “And you're still in shock, Molly. You'll see, what I'm saying will make sense eventually. Until then, I will be patient with you. I love you so much, and knowing how kind you are, I can see that you would try and find a reason to forgive him. But thankfully, _I_ know how this needs to be handled.”

“If he's dying,” Molly said sharply, “He needs to be reminded he's _loved_, he's all alone with this, and you're just abandoning him! You're treating him the way Shepard did, you can't handle what he's become so you're turning him over to doctors who will slice him up and destroy his life!”

Oswald''s anger spiked as he glared at Molly, then he grabbed his cane and stood up sharply, leaning in with the kind of fury in his gaze he had once reserved only for underworld rivals in the bad old days.

“_Never compare me to that vile bastard again!”_ he said coldly.

“_Then don't be like him!” _

“I could_ never_ be like him, Molly!”

She looked into his eyes, seeing such a need for revenge burning there. Oswald had seen Julian attack her and in that moment, all feeling for his adopted son, who he had cherished, had disappeared.

“I'm not in shock,” she stated, “Oswald, he was irrational, he wasn't the Julian we know and love! And when he first grabbed me, I was too stunned to react. As soon as that wore off I handled him very easily! If he came at me again I would knock the living shit out of him and _our_ Julian knows what I'm capable of - the person he was today, didn't know that! He can't control this. _You need to help him, not harm him, for fucks sake wake up!_”

Oswald took hold of her hand, kissing the back of it as all trace of rage vanished from his eyes.

“I'm fully aware of the terrible ordeal you've been through. It's okay to take it out on me, I'm to blame for letting him into this family in the first place.”

For the second time Molly pulled away from him.

“You're wrong about _all _of this!” she said tearfully, and then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Oswald stood there for a moment, taking a slow breath as he felt his temper rising once more, then he snatched up the brandy glass and hurled it at the fireplace, where it shattered and as the shards scattered the rug he could only conclude it was as a broken as this situation. Oswald picked up the bottle, glanced to the closed door and then swigged from it, hoping the booze would calm his frayed nerves and his rising temper. He didn't want the kids to see this side of him. He never wanted Molly to see it, either...

The call came just after five pm. River said the scan results were back, and asked Molly and Oswald to meet her at the clinic.

“You can explain over the telephone, River,” Oswald told her.

“No Dad, you need to come here and see the results. I'm not discussing anything more over the phone,” she replied firmly, and she ended the call.

Iris stayed behind to watch the kids, she was tearful and quiet and refused to discuss Julian. Molly decided to talk to her later. First, she needed to try and get through to her husband, and now it was urgent – because those scan results had showed that dark scar tissue greatly increasing, spreading through formerly repaired pathways. River had been right. And Oswald was determined to handle this the only way he saw fit...

The clinic was quiet when they arrived, and River led them straight through to her office and as they sat down, she took a seat behind her desk and handed the scan results to Oswald.

“As you can see, I was right about the scar tissue,” she said, “Dad, you can't blame Julian for what happened. He couldn't control it. The formula I gave him after he was injured by Bane kick started a regeneration of the remaining cells left over from the experiments at Ashecliffe. This will spread and eventually kill him unless he has the tissue removed, but that's not advisable.”

Oswald looked down at the scan results. Molly saw a flicker of emotion on his face, then he drew in a slow breath, his hands shaking as he kept on studying that result. She saw a tear run down his face and he quickly wiped it away and looked at his daughter.

“I want him to have the surgery as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure that's what's best for him?” River asked her father.

“He's insane,” Oswald reminded her, “He can't make decisions for himself! It's up to _me_ to decide what's best - and I want my son to have the surgery. I want to save his life and ensure he's never a threat to anyone again!”

River looked across the desk as sadness reflected in her gaze.

“But Dad, this treatment will leave him as crippled as he was when he came out of Ashecliffe – assuming he survives the procedure. There's a fifty percent chance he will die during surgery, and a one hundred percent certainty that if he survives, he will be very debilitated, and after what he's been through in the past, there is nothing left to try that will improve his condition. He will have a lifetime of disability, severe disability, Dad. Please think about this.”

“I have thought about it, River. You know my decision.”

“It's not _my_ decision,” Molly said sharply, “This is wrong!”

Oswald gave a sigh as he turned his head.

“You're the victim here, Molly. You'll just have to trust me when I say you're not over this yet and I really do know what's best.”

Molly glared at him.

“Don't you _ever_ speak to me like that again, you patronising -”

“Please stop,” River cut in, “This is about Julian. Right now, he can't control his actions when the memories take over, he slides back into his old persona. But he's lucid at this moment, and when he woke up he thought it was all a terrible nightmare. Then I explained what he did, and that it was real, and I showed him the scans and I told him there are not many choices involved here. He's crying, he's scared and he's restrained in a secure room all alone - and I really think you should see him before you decide anything that will impact his future, Dad.”

Oswald stiffened as he sat there.

“I have no wish to see him, River. How soon can you perform the surgery?”

In that moment, River's gaze reminded him of her mother. That look was pure Fish Mooney.

“I'm not,” she stated, “It's high risk and will leave him with no quality of life to speak of and this is _not_ why I chose to become a doctor!”

Oswald glared back at her.

“You are my daughter and you will do as I say!” he fumed, “You're also aware – as a doctor – that back when he was sick because of the experiments at Ashecliffe, he gave me permission to make decisions for him when he was no longer capable, and that still stands!”

River's icy gaze was unwavering. In that moment, if her eyes had been two mismatched shades, she would have been a reflection of her mother.

“Dad,” she said calmly, “I think you're traumatised by Julian's attack on Molly. You don't seem to be able to accept the facts, not the reality of them – if he has the surgery, it will destroy his life. And some day, when you see this in perspective, you will not forgive yourself for what you're asking me to do.”

“I'm asking you to save his life. He won't last long with the affected tissue rewriting replacement cells.”

“And that's exactly why we need to weigh this up,” River told him, “Julian knows what's happened. He's in a very distressed state and he's terrified! If he doesn't have the surgery, he will need to remain here until I can put together some drugs to contain his condition, by that I mean, to stop him being a threat to others. He will most likely spend the rest of his days very sedated. And he won't live long, but at least he will have a quality of life where he knows he's still loved and cared for. This isn't about punishing him, Dad! He's no more responsible for what he did to Molly than what he did to Iris under the influence of the Tech virus! The scar tissue is causing this, he's not doing it by choice and most of the time, he's the same Julian we know and love.”

“_I have no love for my son.”_

Oswald had stated that coldly as Molly sat beside him, putting a hand to her mouth as she stifled a sob. Then she blinked away her tears and looked to River.

“I'll see him, River.”

“Please do, he needs to know he's not alone,” she told her as she got up from her seat.

Oswald looked sharply from Molly to his daughter as Molly got up too and he grabbed his cane, stood up giving a hiss of pain as his joints ached sharply, then he grabbed Molly's arm, tugging her back roughly as she pulled away from his grip with a look of simmering rage sparked up in her eyes.

“_You will not see Mr Lambrick again!”_

Molly briefly looked as stunned as she felt, looking at her Oswald, the man she loved who she was raising kids with, who had seemed to be unable to grasp the facts in this situation. She had never seen this side to him before, and the more she saw of it, the more she wondered exactly how well she knew him at all.

“You're giving me an order?” she said in surprise.

“Yes I am!” Oswald said sharply as he blinked away tears, “I will _not_ fail in my duty to protect you!”

Molly shook her head as she looked back at him.

“His name is Cobblepot, he stopped being a Lambrick long ago! He calls you Dad! And now you're going to abandon him just like Shepard did? I won't abandon him, Oswald! I would _never _turn my back, or give up, on _any_ of our family, because I love you all!”

“_But I saw what he tried to do!”_ Oswald said sharply as tears of rage filled his eyes, _“He's not a member of this family! No Kapelput would ever treat a woman like that! He's brought shame on to our good, decent family name, he's vile and disgusting - and he tried to have sex with you, with MY wife!”_

Molly felt her rage simmer down, settling to a bitterly angry level as she wished taking Oswald by the shoulders and shaking him would get him out of this vengeful state and make him see the facts as they stood. But there was no point, he saw it from his own angle.

“Dad,” River said, “I think you're still traumatised from seeing Julian attack Molly. As a doctor I'd advise you to see a therapist, you need to talk about it and get over this trauma before you make any kind of decision for Julian.”

Oswald turned angrily to River.

“How dare you question my sanity! I'm not the fucking monster here! Now, are you going to perform that surgery, or do I have to find another doctor, River?”

Her Dad was resorting to power and money to win this. She knew he had her backed into a corner over it now.

“I don't feel able to carry out the operation with a clear conscience,” she replied, “But I will find you a surgeon willing to do it who maybe has more skill than me, who could slightly reduce the harm done to Julian - and that could take a couple of weeks to arrange and meanwhile, I will keep him here securely at the clinic.”

Oswald nodded.

“Thank you, River,” he replied, and then he turned back to Molly.

“_We're leaving.”_

Molly blinked.

“_We?”_

“Yes, Molly – we are leaving right now.”

“Like fuck we are!” she said angrily, “You can't order me about! Do you think I lost all sense of reason because Julian attacked me? I had a worse time fighting my way through to save_ your_ life when Velaska abducted you ten years back! Now that's something I will _never_ be able to forget, seeing you beaten and bloody and a half dead on life support! Get some fucking perspective, man!”

Oswald turned for the door.

“I said, we are leaving, Molly.”

Then he gave a hiss of pain as his aching leg throbbed.

River exchanged a glance with Molly and hurried over to her Dad, reaching out to steady him.

“You're right, Dad,” she said, “We should get this resolved and then we can all get on with our lives.”

Molly stared at her. River felt that stare but carried on talking to Oswald as he turned his head and looked at his daughter.

“And right now, I'm concerned your knee joint is getting worse. Come with me and I'll take a look at it and prescribe something. We can't ignore your pain because of what's happened. Molly doesn't need you laid up in bed at a time like this.”

She glanced over at Molly, who suddenly realised: _River was on her side in this?_

“Right,” she said quietly.

“I want you to wait in the car,” Oswald said.

“Yes, maybe you should wait in the car,” River agreed, “But I'll just take Dad through to the examination room first.”

Oswald leaned heavily on River as his leg throbbed again.

“It's been much worse since I hurried up the stairs,” Molly heard him say, then the door closed behind them.

As Oswald sat down and River stood beside him, he blinked away tears.

“Are you okay, Dad?” she asked softly.

Now they were alone and he no longer felt the need to be strong around Molly, he shook his head as he gave a sob.

“_No I'm not!”_ he said tearfully.

As he started to cry, River hugged him.

“It's going to be okay, Dad,” she said softly, “I know how much you love Molly and I know you're trying to protect her... and I know you care about Julian -”

He pulled away and looked up at her sharply.

“I have _no_ love for my son!”

River nodded saying no more, then she went over to her desk.

“I just need to access your files...”

As he waited in the examination table, she quickly pulled up Molly's email and sent a message:

_Access card in my office desk, top drawer. Room 3, first floor. I'll stall him for thirty minutes. You need to speak to Julian._

Then she sent the message and pulled up her Dad's file to check his medication list, and returned to his side.

“Before I take a look at your leg I want you to talk to me,” she said, “Tell me exactly what happened today, Dad. You've got to talk to someone about this, so talk to me.”

“I don't think I can ever get over it,” he said tearfully, and River breathed a relieved sigh. Maybe her Dad wouldn't change his mind about his plans for Julian, but at least he was talking now, and that was a good start...

Molly heard the message alert and checked it, then she got up and went over to the desk, found the card and quickly slipped from the room. She hoped River could stall Oswald long enough, because if he realised they had acted behind his back, it would just make the situation even worse. But she had to speak to Julian. She needed to see him, to hear exactly what he had to say. She already knew he had no choice over what he had done, and that he was as much a victim now as he had been when Shepard had turned him over to the asylum for use in the Tetch virus experiment. And she wasn't going to allow Oswald to put him through surgery that would leave him with no hope of recovery. There had to be a way to fix this, she just needed to find it - and quickly, because time was running out for Julian...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

River had not needed to find an excuse to stall Oswald for half an hour. One look at his knee and she had told him he needed a pain shot, and then she had administered it carefully, apologised as he gave a hiss of pain and then sat with him as he waited for it to work.

“And I'll give you some pills, you can start taking them tomorrow,” she said as she sat beside him and Oswald rested his throbbing leg, “Now I'll make you some tea, and then we can talk some more while you rest.”

Oswald gave a heavy sigh.

“I should let Molly know I'm going to be delayed.”

“No, don't worry about Molly, I'll let her know,” River said, and then she left the room and shut the door behind her as Oswald closed his eyes, waiting for the pain in his leg to stop.

Molly stepped out of the elevator on the first floor and hurried down the corridor, glancing at the door numbers. She found Julian's door, swiped the card and the lock slid back and she went inside, closing the door softly behind her. Julian was in bed, his hands at his sides secured by restraints. He had a look of fear in his tearful eyes, and as he saw her standing there he started to cry as his words choked up with tears.

“_Molly, I...I don't know what happened... I swear, it was like I was pushed out... I thought it was nightmare but...” _he gave another sob as his hands clenched into fists and as he fought in vain against the restraints, he sobbed again.

“_Please... PLEASE forgive me... I'm begging you, I can't believe I did that! I wouldn't do that! Fucking help me. Save me!”_

Molly walked over to his bed and sat on the edge of it, then she leaned close and wrapped her arms around him as he trembled and sobbed in her embrace like a frightened child.

“Shh,” she said as she stroked his hair, “It's okay, Julian. I know what happened. River told you about the scar tissue, we both know you didn't have any control. It's not your fault.”

As she let go of him, he looked up at her with wide eyes red from too much crying.

“_I want my Dad!”_

“Oswald can't handle this right now, he's still coming to terms with it.”

A tear ran down Julian's face.

“Where is Iris?”

His voice was hushed and broken by sobs. He had a look in his eyes that said he didn't really need her to clarify, and she explained as gently as she could, knowing he had already worked out why she had turned her back on him.

“She was devastated at the thought that you attacked me after what happened with her years before - and she can't handle this any more than Oswald can.”

Molly reached for his hand, holding it gently as he clung on, and as the restraint slipped a fraction she saw the red marks beneath it where he had struggled in vain.

“I want you to listen to me,” she said, “Just listen, can you do that for me, Julian?”

As she asked that question she brushed a tear from his face. He looked up at her and nodded.

“That's good,” she said softly, “You need to listen. I know this is scary, but try and stay calm. It's very clear that you attacked me because of the scar tissue – and I know you're not to blame for that.”

He gave another sob.

“_I'm so sorry!”_

“Shh,” Molly said again, giving his hand a squeeze, “If I can come to terms with that I'm sure the rest of the family can. You have to trust me on that and I need to find find some real help for you – Julian, you can't have that surgery. It will leave you just like you were when we got you out of Ashecliffe.”

“But maybe I deserve that... Molly, I don't deserve to live.”

“Yes you do! It's _not_ your fault this happened - it's Shepard's fault, he did an evil thing, a _truly_ evil thing when he forced you to go through those experiments with the virus! He deserves to rot in hell for that! But not you, sweetheart – none of this is your fault!”

“But I did it,” he whispered as he struggled to hold back more tears, “Molly, it was still me doing it even if I had no control. _I don't deserve forgiveness! I don't want to live any more.._.”

“You don't mean that!” she said firmly as he turned his head away and wept, “Julian - _look_ at me!”

He obeyed her, looking tearfully up as she spoke again.

“I know you're frightened. And you don't want this surgery, do you?”

“_No, I don't want to fucking die or end up like I did before! I just want to go home!”_

“You can't go home, not until we figure something out,” Molly told him, keeping a firm grip on his hand, “But I will not let them operate and hurt you like that, Julian. I don't know what the solution is, but I'll do everything I can to help you. Until I can think of something, I want you to promise me you'll stop crying, and try and stay calm. Let River look after you and leave the rest to me, okay?”

He was on the brink of tears again as he nodded.

“I have to go now.”

“_No!”_ fear shone in his eyes, _“No, no don't leave me, please help me!”_

“I will help you. But I have to go now,” she told him, then she drew her hand from his shaking grip and paused to lean over him as he looked up at her in confusion.

“Why don't you hate me?” he asked, and sounded completely broken.

“I could never hate you, sweetheart,” she said tenderly, and then she kissed his brow.

“Try and rest. And if you think you're starting to change, if you start to feel like your old memories are taking over I want you to promise me you'll tell River, so she can find a medication to help you, okay?”

He nodded.

“Okay Molly, yes... yes, I'll do that.”

“I'll see you soon,” she replied, “And don't tell Oswald I was here, if he comes to see you – he wanted me to stay away.”

Confusion filled his pale gaze.

“So why are you here?”

Molly looked at him. The tiny bruise on her jaw was nothing compared to the livid, pink and purple mark on his cheek left by her fist when she had swung at him as they had struggled.

“I'm sorry about your face, and I'm sorry I had to knock you out.” she said.

“You... you didn't answer my question, why did you come here if Dad wanted you to keep away?”

“Because I understand what's happened with you, and he's not ready to think about that yet,” she told him, “Try and rest now, I'll be in touch, I promise.”

Then she left the room, locking the door behind her. Just then her phone buzzed and she checked her messages:

_Dad's resting, just gave him a pain shot. He will be out to the car in around fifteen minutes – River._

_Thanks_ , she sent back, then she hurried for the elevator and took a ride to the ground floor.

Back in the clinic Oswald was still resting. Now he was ready to leave, but had decided to give the shot a while longer, to be sure it had kicked in. River had gone off to get his pain meds, and while she was gone, he took out his phone and called Josh, deciding there was no reason to call Jax and cut short his precious first weeks with his newborn, there was no need to make anyone unhappy, not if he could avoid it... He would speak to Josh, and then, he would talk to Ed, because he would have to make a statement to the press to explain that Julian would be absent from his role in government indefinitely, due to serious illness.

“Hello sir,” Josh said as he answered the call.

“Josh,” Oswald sounded as weary as he felt, “I have some bad news and it must stay confidential. I'll also ask you _not_ to inform my General of this matter as he is currently spending time with his wife and their newborn daughter. I will bring him up to speed at the appropriate time, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir, absolutely,” Josh replied.

Oswald began to explain.

“My son Julian is currently detained at a medical facility awaiting treatment. He was once the subject of an illegal experiment forced on him by Shepard Lambrick and he's now suffering a consequence of that. If he survives surgery to resolve the issue, he will be very debilitated. He won't be returning to his role in government. Ed's going to speak to the press tomorrow, I'm about to call him and explain everything. I would like you to come over to the house tomorrow so we can discuss plans for Jax to cover for Julian on official duties until we decide who will replace him to serve the city.”

There was a stunned silence on the other end of the phone and then Josh spoke up.

“Sir..._Oswald._.. can I ask, what happened to him, exactly?”

Oswald drew in a tight breath. Josh had risked so much to help save Julian from Bane, he deserved the truth, he didn't doubt his loyalty...

“Julian was held against his will at Ashecliffe asylum. His adopted father Shepard Lambrick used him as a test subject for a refined version of the Tetch virus. It was implanted deep in his brain and River removed most of it post mortem after he died from his wounds, she brought him back again - and he still had a trace of inactive scar tissue, but everything was fine until Bane... the formula she gave him for his injuries combined with healing consisting of pure energy to heal him completely, sparked it back to like. _He went crazy, Josh. Julian tried to rape my wife and now claims to have no memory of his actions. He's turning back into the monster they created at Ashecliffe._”

Again, there was a shocked silence.

“I'm sorry,” Josh said, “Oswald, I'm so sorry about your son – and for what's happened. You can rely on me, sir. I'll do all I can to help you through this, what ever you need, just say the word.”

Oswald managed a smile as he thought of the brave young man who had been so proud to have the chance to serve under him.

“I've been drinking today,” he admitted, “And I raised my voice to my wife, after all she's been through, Josh... I got so sick of her trying to defend _him!_ My own daughter too, she was was blaming the scar tissue and I just snapped...” he blinked away tears, “Sorry, it's been a day from hell. I'm currently waiting for pain relief to kick in. My leg's trying to give up on me again. I'll see you tomorrow, nine am.”

“Or would nine thirty be better for you, sir?” Josh asked.

Oswald managed a smile despite how terrible the day had been.

“Let's make it ten thirty, I'll see you tomorrow, Josh.”

He ended the call then hesitated, looking thoughtfully at Ed's number. Then he decided, now was the best time to explain, to get it over and done with, and he called him. Ed was at home with Lee at the time. He sounded his usual happy self until Oswald said,_ Something terrible has happened,_ and then Ed asked him what was wrong, and Oswald explained. Ed stayed silent, listening to the whole story without cutting in once. When Oswald had finished speaking, Ed gave a heavy sigh.

“Oh no, that is terrible news. And Julian went through so much after Ashecliffe to get his wounds repaired... “ anger crept into his voice, “I know _all_ about experiments! I remember when Strange put a chip in my brain! At least that was easy to remove... But what they did to Julian at that facility, it was so evil -”

“And what he did to my _wife_ was evil!” Oswald said angrily, “Ed, did you miss the part where I told you Julian tried to _rape_ my wife?_ He attacked Molly_!”

Ed paused, then spoke again.

“Oz, I think you're missing the point that Julian's had this issue with the scarring since you busted him out of Ashecliffe. I'm not defending his actions, I'm saying, clearly, he had no control over what he did. He probably wasn't even aware of what he was doing. Oh no... this probably means all the work he had done, everything he went through, was for nothing. You said he's dying if he doesn't have the surgery? Oswald, I'm so sorry -”

Oswald gripped the phone hard as anger sparked in his gaze.

“Why do people keep telling me they are sorry? I don't need condolences for Julian, I need sympathy for Molly!”

“But you said she was okay, she fought him off? Oswald, she took on Jeremiah and Bane and won! I really don't think she would have had too much of a struggle to fight off a guy like Julian. He's not a fighter, and he's sick, he can't control what happened. But, something has to be done – and I just hope you reconsider on the surgery. There _has_ to be another way. A _humane_ way to help the guy! I bet when he came to his senses he was devastated to think the remains of the virus had taken over again. How is he now?”

Oswald felt bewildered.

“Do you want to take his place on the city council representing the underworld, or not?” he demanded.

“What? Of course I would, Oswald! Thank you, I would love to do that! I mean, at least until he's hopefully well enough to come back.”

“Julian will not be returning to his governing role,” Oswald stated, “And as for asking me how he's doing, _why_ would I want to see him after he attacked Molly?”

“Molly knows it was the virus, right?” Ed asked, “She understands it wasn't Julian deciding to do this, it's like the time he attacked Iris while had the virus, she knows that?”

“She seems to think that's more relevant than his actions. Maybe she's as crazy and you and everyone else I know who sympathises with that monster!”

Ed paused, then he spoke cautiously.

“But Oswald, it was the scar tissue that made him do it. He didn't choose to attack Molly. We all know Julian, he's a sweet and harmless guy! He reluctantly goes to city council meetings and sits there bored with his pages of notes like a high school kid who can't wait to cut class and go home again and be with his girlfriend! He's not a bad guy, Oswald. We both know that. Think about some of the bastards we knew in the bad old days – Julian's one of the good guys. And I think it's a huge tragedy that the tissue has reactivated. I'm so sorry, I truly am. And I'm grateful for the job, too. I just wish I was taking it up under happier circumstances.”

“I want you to make a press statement tomorrow,” Oswald told him, “Say Julian will no longer be able to perform his duties due to illness, and is stepping down indefinitely. We'll announce you as his replacement in a couple of weeks, I'll leave that task with Jax when he returns to his duties.”

Ed spoke again.

“Are you absolutely sure this is indefinite?”

“Of course it is, Ed! He won't be able to do anything after the surgery – he won't make much of a recovery. But thankfully, this also means he also won't be trying to rape any more women, ever again!”

“Oswald, I don't think you're hearing what I'm saying – River said it was the scar tissue that made him do it, like a ghost of the Tetch virus come back to haunt him. There has to be another way to handle this. You love him like a son.”

“I did until he attacked my wife, Edward,” Oswald replied frostily, “And I'm sure you would see my point of view too, if Julian had attacked Lee!”

“If Julian had done that to Lee,” Ed said as tension rose in his voice, “She would have knocked him out, restrained him and started to look for ways to fix the problem! She wouldn't have cut him open and sliced out a chunk of his brain and called _that _a cure! I think you're angry, probably furious with him – but if Molly can see why this happened, maybe you should think about her point of view. Because she's seeing the _real_ picture here!”

Oswald's eyes flickered with anger as he struggled to contain it. He had already decided Julian's fate, and he wasn't about to lose someone else he had cared about for many years. His friendship with Ed was priceless and always would be.

“Ed, leave my family matters to me, please,” he said, “And start thinking about your new role on the council. And I want that press conference held by noon tomorrow. _Do not_ tell them what's really happened. Just say Julian is sick and it's incurable and he's withdrawing from political and public life.”

Ed hesitated before replying.

“Are you sure about this, Oswald? Because there's no going back on these decisions.”

“Of course I'm sure. Now I have to meet Molly and go home – I'm at the clinic, I've just had a pain shot. I look forward to seeing that press announcement tomorrow.”

“Wait!”

Oswald gave a sigh as he sat there in the treatment room, his leg feeling fine now the drugs had kicked in.

“What now, Ed?”

“You're at the clinic?”

“What of it?” he asked.

“You said River was treating Julian. He's at the clinic too?”

“Yes, why?”

“_I think you should see your son.”_

Oswald took a slow breath, again remembering Ed's friendship mattered to him. He did not want to fall out with him over this.

“Let me remind you, Julian was born to an Irish immigrant family who ran a bar in the Narrows. When they died in a fire, he was adopted by my mother's sister and her husband Shepard Lambrick! He's my _adopted_ cousin, Edward! And yes, I forged paperwork to make it look as if he was my son, I did that to stop Shepard putting Julian back in the asylum – and I grew to love that man as a son! But Julian has done something unforgivable and I have _no_ love for him now!”

Ed paused, knowing Oswald well enough to know he would not listen to reason while he was still in shock over the attack on Molly.

“I'll arrange the press meeting tomorrow,” he replied, “And I'll call you in a couple of days – maybe I can come over in a few days and we can talk about the situation with your son.”

“There's nothing to discuss, Ed,” Oswald told him firmly, “My decision has been made and it's final. I look forward to seeing your announcement tomorrow. Goodbye.”

He ended the call then paused to take a deep breath. His heart was aching at the choices he had made, but there seemed to be no other way to deal with this...

As River returned to the room then handed Oswald a bottle of pills, she asked him if he was ready to leave and he said he was, then as she led him out of the room and into the corridor, Ed's words ran through Oswald's mind:

_You should see your son._

He turned to River.

“_I want to see Julian.”_

Those words had not been spoken with any trace of warmth or concern, but at least he was going to see him, and that was a start.

“That's a good idea,” River replied, “I'll come with you,” and she went back inside, crossed through to her office, grabbed her access card and rejoined her father in the corridor and led him over to the elevator.

On the other side of town in their new home, Josh and Selina had just been enjoying a long afternoon in the garden, then as the sun started to dip they went back inside and Selina playfully grabbed at his hand, pulling him into the bathroom with her. They had made love under the shower as she had hit her peak with her legs wrapped around his waist as she ordered him to fuck her harder. Her nails had trailed down his back, leaving tiny scratches as he took her pleasure and he was glad to give it. Now they were in the front room enjoying iced drinks before dinner, and the mood had been good all day.

That had soon changed when Josh had received a call from Oswald, who sounded devastated...

As he put the phone down, he fell silent for a short time. Selina, who had heard little of the conversation as Oswald had done much of the talking, looked to Josh with concern.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

_Josh told her everything._

When he had finished explaining, Selina shook her head sadly.

“I feel so sorry for Penguin and his family. We both know he loves Julian so much – he would do anything for his son... and Julian's been through so much to cure his condition. Oh no, this means it was all for nothing... He's dying?”

“I guess he won't be once he's had the surgery.”

Josh fell silent. Working for Penguin was a dream come true, but he didn't agree with Oswald's decision on how to handle this, but what could he do, when it was none of his business?

“Oswald can't do that to him. If it was the scar tissue, Julian had no control over his actions. Like before, with Iris – everyone knew it was the Tetch virus that made him do it!”

Josh leaned back against the sofa as he put his arm around his wife.

“I think he's still in shock,” Josh told her, “It seemed everyone has realised the cause of this – everyone except Oswald. He said Molly wasn't hurt, she fought him off – but he's talking like it's all Julian's fault, he's completely ignoring the fact that he had no say in his actions.”

“Oswald had better snap out of that before he does something he regrets!” Selena said in alarm.

“And there's nothing I can do, I work for the guy, Selina. I can try talking to him, but if he won't listen … You know what Penguin's like. If he's made his mind up to blame Julian and not the virus, he won't listen to me.”

Selina shook her head sadly.

“They've used up the healing agents created by Strange and by River. That stuff can't be used twice. And after Bane, he must have been healed by something other than conventional medicine to recover the way he did – maybe one of the Resurrected healed him. But even that wasn't enough to wipe out that scar tissue. He's had a such a long hard fight on his hands, Josh... it's not fair, none of this is fair on him, and all because Shepard put him through those sick experiments at Ashecliffe?” she shook her head again, “I know Oswald's in a rage at Julian because of Molly, but when he stops and thinks about the situation, he will realise the truth. And I hope it happens before its too late. Oswald loves his son, if he doesn't see this for what it is, the time will come when he will never forgive himself, especially if it's after Julian has gone...”

She blinked away tears.

“_Why_ is life always so damned unfair?”

Josh pulled her a little closer as he sat there with his arm around her.

“I don't know,” he replied, “I guess it never will be fair. But there's not really much we can do, just be there for Penguin and his family.”

At that moment, Selina's thoughts were far away in the past, when life had been a lot harder than it was today, after the city had fallen and she and a much loved friend had parted company once and for all...

“Do you remember when I told you about the time Jeremiah Velaska shot me and I was paralysed and Bruce helped to find someone who could cure me? She cured me with a plant extract.”

Josh nodded. He knew every inch of Selina's body, he had kissed all the way down that scar on her back many times, the legacy of the surgery that had failed. He had heard her speak of the woman who had cured her with a plant substance, a woman who had been known as The Witch...

“Yes, I remember, why?”

There was a small spark of hope in Selina's eyes, then it was gone.

“I'm not sure. Maybe I'm wrong. I haven't seen her for years and I heard she went crazy – she's certainly dangerous... and she lives in seclusion far out of Gotham, deep in a forest...”

“Who are you talking about?” said Josh in confusion.

“Ivy. I was thinking, maybe Ivy Pepper could cure Julian.”

Josh blinked, feeling utterly confused.

“Who's Ivy Pepper?” he asked.

Back at the clinic, River waited outside as Oswald went into Julian's room. He limped in there stiffly, as Julian lay sleeping. River watched from the doorway saying nothing, her heart aching for Julian because she had just seen her Dad lay eyes on him as if he hated him. She had already decided, if Oswald got rough with him, he would have to leave...

Oswald limped quietly over to Julian's bedside and stood there, his expression tense as he looked down at him.

“_Julian.”_

He heard his name and turned his head, opened red eyes sore from crying and saw his Dad standing there, and became tearful again.

“_Dad – I'm so sorry!” _he gave a weak sob.

Oswald leaned over him, swept back his fair hair and kept his hand lightly on his brow as he looked into his eyes.

“Stop that,” he said calmly, “There's no need to weep. We can resolve this situation.”

As he spoke coldly River felt uneasy as she took a step closer to the open doorway, watching as her Dad looked down at Julian speaking quietly, yet with no trace of concern or compassion in his voice.

“It wasn't my fault, Dad – _please_ believe me, I would never hurt Molly! I would never do a thing like that!” Julian protested.

“But you did,” Oswald replied calmly, “Tell me what you did to Molly, Julian. I want hear you say it.”

Pain reflected in his eyes as he stifled a sob and dragged out words he didn't want to say.

“_I... I... tried to....to rape her. But it wasn't me, it was like I was back in time, I was the old me, the Tetch virus -”_

“Shh,” Oswald said, stroking his son's hair, “Crying over this won't change the outcome. You know we have to do something about this, don't you?”

“Dad, I'm going to die! Even if I survive the surgery, it's going to destroy my life! There _has_ to be something else, _please!_”

Oswald straightened up and looked down at his son.

“We don't have a choice,” he told him, “You're a danger to others. This is why you can't come home again. And after the surgery you'll be better off in a nursing home. There really is no other choice here, Julian.”

“_I would rather die than live like that!”_ he said tearfully.

“I can't let you die,” Oswald replied, “Not when there is a way to save you. And we have no choice with this, you just need to accept that.”

Defiance burned in his eyes as he struggled in vain against his restraints.

“_I won't have the surgery! You can't force me!”_

Oswald's gaze hardened.

“You're not stable enough to make choices for yourself, son. Deal with the consequences of your actions. I can't let you be a threat to others.”

Julian gave another sob as all fight faded from his eyes and he felt a creeping sense of panic that he was no safer now than he had been when Shepard had put him Ashecliffe all those years before.

“I thought you loved me, Dad!”

“I did, son,” Oswald replied, “And I'm leaving now.”

Julian dragged in a breath.

“At least let me see the family, let me see the kids!”

Oswald stared at him.

“You are _never_ seeing_ my_ children again!” he said in disgust, “Not after what you did to Molly!”

He turned away and limped out of the room, leaving Julian sobbing in his restraints as he lay trapped in his bed.

“I need to go in to see him,” River said sharply, “Bye, Dad. I'll call you.”

Oswald blinked.

“Why are you being so cold towards me?”

“Because I almost had to go into there and drag you out. You've left him in tears. He _doesn't_ deserve that!”

Oswald kept his composure as he looked blankly at his daughter.

“Yes, he does deserve that, he really does - for what he did to Molly!” Oswald replied, and then he turned away. Julian was still sobbing. River hurried in to comfort him, as Oswald limped off alone to leave the clinic and rejoin Molly in the car.

Far from the troubles of the Cobblepot family, Josh was sitting beside his wife as Selina paused for thought before answering his question.

“Ivy Pepper was a friend of mine. A very good friend – at one time. We knew each other in the old days, she was beautiful and smart and yes, in my own way, I loved her. But she changed every time she enhanced herself. She used plant extracts to make her more beautiful, more seductive, smarter, more powerful... she never stopped. By the time the city had fallen when the bridges blew, she was crazy. The last thing she ever did for me was heal my paralysis. And I never saw her again. Well, maybe that's not accurate... _She showed up at our wedding._”

As she turned her head, she saw a look of surprise on his face.

“You never told me that!” said Josh.

“I saw her before that, a few times over the years, always in shadow, watching from a distance...she's made a few trips into the city, like she needs to check on me sometimes, but she just stands there and then she melts away like a ghost.”

“Melts?” Josh repeated, “I don't understand...”

“She's gained a lot of abilities due to her work with the plants. She's a part them as much as they are a part of her. And she's so powerful now, but she lives deep in the wilderness, far away from the city. It was the plants that changed her - that's why she turned her back on people. In wartime her experiments got out of hand, she created monsters, man eating plants that obeyed her commands...They spread, and when the city was back under control she was asked several times to do something about her plants but she ignored every request - so the city burned her park. And that was when she left. I can't imagine what she's like now. I heard she went crazy, I know she's dangerous. _And I saw her for a few seconds, at the back of the church before we married, and then she just melted away through the wall and vanished. That was Ivy. My best friend. That's what's left of her, that's what she's become._” A tear ran down Selina's cheek, “If she was still here – _if_ she was still the Ivy I knew and loved, I think maybe she could have helped Julian. But the person she is now, it can't be done. She's too dangerous to approach. I'm sorry, I wish I could do something to help. I feel so sorry for Oswald and his family.”

As more tears fell, Josh pulled her closer.

“Don't cry, Selina,” he said softly as he held her, and he kept on speaking words of comfort until her tears had dried, feeling sure this was about more than sympathy for Oswald and his family – this was about Ivy Pepper, and if she was right about Ivy, maybe there was another way to help Julian – but he wasn't sure how Oswald would react to that suggestion...

River had sat with Julian for more than an hour after her father had left. She had opened up the wrist restraints and raised the bed so Julian could sit up, and she had sat on the edge of the bed and hugged him tightly. He had been so thankful for that brief respite from his bonds as he held her and sobbed against her shoulder. His wrists were sore from struggling and she offered to dress the wounds for him, but he just clung to her and whispered _Please don't let go of me, River. _

“I'm so sorry Dad can't understand what's happened here,” River told him as she drew back from his embrace and adjusted her monocle, “And as for the surgery, I won't be carrying it out. I've managed to stall him on that, but I can only delay it by a couple of weeks and in that time, we have to find another solution.”

Hurt registered in his eyes as she began to fix his writs back into the restraints.

“I'm sorry, Julian, I have to do this for your sake. Are you sure you don't want a dressing for your wrists?”

“No, I'll be fine,” he said quietly, then he leaned back against his pillow and gave a heavy sigh.

“_Maybe I should contact a lawyer.”_

River got up and stood at his bedside, looking at him in surprise.

“You want to challenge his right to speak for you?”

“I know that means putting you in a difficult position but this is my _life_, River! Would Harvey Dent help me? I have money, I can pay him -”

“Harvey only represents Dad,” River reminded him, “It's an old gangland loyalty thing and he won't break that. But yes, if you wanted me to give a statement to a lawyer on your ability to decide, I would say, the scar tissue isn't affecting you constantly, that these incidents are rare and at this moment, unless the situation changes, you are completely sane and able to speak for yourself. And if Dad doesn't like that, he will just have to think about the _real_ facts here and grasp what's actually causing it to happen. There has to be another way to treat you, Julian. We just haven't found it yet.”

As he lay there, Julian relaxed, as he was pushed aside without a fight as those darkened pathways in his mind took over again and he smiled a slow smile at River.

“Julian?”

She had seen the look in his eyes change, and before she could say another word, he spoke again.

“I have a_ great _plan!” he said, and laughed, “I'll tell the truth! _I didn't rape Molly. It was consensual. I've been fucking her for months!_”

“Oh no...”

River stepped back, feeling a wave of shock as she realised Julian had just changed in a split second.

“No, you have not! That's your affected pathways talking, Julian!”

“But I have!” amusement danced darkly in his gaze, “I've been fucking her for a _long_ time. He caught us, she panicked. That's the truth, River. And that's what I'll tell a lawyer:_ My Dad is trying to get my brain sliced up to punish me for fucking his wife! But Molly still loves me. She can't live without me. She was sucking my cock in here just before you showed up!_”

River turned away, reaching for a preloaded needle.

“_What's the matter, River? Jealous?”_ said Julian, _“I'd fuck you too but Molly's kinda special to me!”_

“You can't help this, Julian, you're sick,” River said, injecting the needle as he tensed and then gave an exhausted sigh, his eyes glazing over as the sedative began to work.

“You're my brother and I love you,” she added,, blinking away tears, “I'm sorry I had to do that, you sleep now, Julian.”

He closed his eyes, losing consciousness quickly.

River left the room and locked the door behind her, then went back to her office to weep alone. She had almost believed him, she had actually thought she was talking to her brother when all the while, that scar tissue had been silently taking over. Hearing him talk like that had been disturbing. It had been like speaking to a stranger. It also meant his plans to seek legal help were worthless – she couldn't deny this had happened, Julian wasn't sane, not at this moment, and maybe, he never would be again...

She still hadn't given up on finding a solution, but perhaps she wouldn't find it in time, maybe there was no hope left... She wept alone in her office and then she called Victor, who listened with sympathy. When she ended the call she turned on a monitor, watching Julian sleep in his locked room. Her heart was aching. There _had_ to be a way to save him, because the alternative was unthinkable...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Molly had hated to deceive Oswald, but it had been the only way to see Julian. Now she had seen him, she was more certain than ever that he was entirely blameless for his actions. She had said nothing more to Oswald on the matter as they drove home, then Oswald went off to the study to drink alone, before retiring to bed early.

Molly had thanked Iris for watching the kids for her, now it was growing late and Felix was already fast asleep and Luna had just drifted off shortly after. Cain was in his room, sat on his bed and playing a game on his iPad. He had put it down and looked to her with worry in his young eyes as he asked when Julian was coming home.

“I don't know, love,” Molly replied honestly, “He's not very well and he needs to be in the hospital for now.”

“Julian was sick when he first came home,” Cain reminded her, “I remember, when I was little. But he got better. He always gets better.”

Molly felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed hard and blinked away tears. Yes he had always recovered – but clearly, that scarring left behind after his rescue from the asylum had always been a huge problem, and he was still fighting it to this very day, it had never been more clear than it was now that maybe, he had always been losing the battle...

“Mom, are you crying?” Cain asked.

Molly blinked rapidly.

“No, I'm just tired – and by the way, keep off that iPad until you've done your homework. I want you in bed asleep by nine thirty and_ don't_ make any noise, Dad's gone to bed early, he's had a hard day.”

“Okay Mom,” Cain replied, and he reached for his homework as she left the room.

Molly had turned to head for the room she shared with her husband, but as she passed Julian's open door she stopped and turned towards it.

“What the hell are you doing?” she said in alarm as Iris stood there in the bedroom, hurriedly packing an open bag. She looked up tearfully at Molly.

“_I know_ he's sick. I _know_ he's not to blame for that, I understand what happened to him back at Ashecliffe and I can see now, it's always going to be there, waiting to come out again. I don't blame him for what that's done to him – but it's brought it all back to _me_, Molly!”

“He needs you,” Molly reminded her as she went inside and closed the door behind them softly, “Iris, you can't leave him now! If you can accept that he attacked you because of the Tetch virus, then you know why this happened to me! You have no reason to turn your back on him now, he's alone and terrified!”

Iris stood there looking as fragile as she felt as her legs shook and her face paled, then she ran a shaking hand through her hair and closed her bag and lifted it from the bed as she looked to Molly with tears in her eyes and spoke in a voice shaded by anger and grief.

“_Never_ forget how I first met Julian Lambrick! I was desperate for money to help my sick brother! And that night.... You don't know how terrible it was, what I saw people do to each other, what choices I had to make to stay alive and get that cash! And in the middle of it all, Julian tried to rape me!”

“He was affected by the Tetch virus!” Molly said sharply, “Which makes him as much a victim as you were! He was locked away in an asylum and used as a test subject against his will! His adopted father did that to him! You know all of this, why can't you think about Julian and what he's going through?”

Iris shook her head as her eyes glazed with more tears.

“_You don't know what this feels like for me! It's all come back to me! I suffered that night, I suffered to get cash to save my sick brother and when I got home, he was dead! He killed himself while I was away!”_

“I know that,” Molly replied quietly, “But today Julian told me he wants to die. He said, he would rather die than live with a chunk of his brain sliced out. He's in a locked room, alone and terrified! He's got marks on his wrists from the restraints, he's_ so_ frightened, Iris!”

Molly's words had little impact. Outside on the driveway a car horn sounded.   
“That's my taxi,” Iris said, heading for the door, “I have to go. I'll miss the family, especially the kids, but I can't stay in this situation. I can't relive it all over again. I know Julian is sick, but I care about my own sanity, too! I'm sorry, Molly, I'm leaving.”

They both stood there in the doorway, with Molly blocking her exit.

“_Don't do this to him! Iris, I've seen him, he's broken, he needs to know he's loved! My heart is in pieces for him!”_

Iris glared at her.

“_Your_ heart is breaking for him?_ Then maybe you should be there for him – maybe he needs you more than he needs me. He's always needed you!_”

She pushed past her and hurried for the stairs.

Molly stood there in Julian's empty room, sadness reflected in her gaze as the front door closed and then she heard the slam of a car door and the taxi drove away. As Molly stood there, she wondered why the parting words spoken by Iris had hurt her so much:

_What was Iris suggesting? _

_Had she just implied her feelings for Julian went far deeper than they should?_

She didn't know why it had bothered her so much, Iris was upset, angry that all her past trauma had been dragged up – of course she would say hurtful things that she didn't mean...

Molly turned to the bed and straightened the covers, then she found a jacket belonging to Julian draped over the back of a chair and she hung it up in the wardrobe. As she tidied the room, she wondered why she was bothering to do this, he would probably never come home again...And if he did, he would come home to a house where his girlfriend was absent. She knew she would have to tell him, he needed to know as soon as possible, because he would need time to get over this loss...

Molly left the room and closed the door, then she went down the hallway to the main bedroom, opened the door quietly and found Oswald fast asleep, the covers half off his naked body as he perspired lightly in the heat of the summer evening and slept off more than enough booze for one day. Molly got undressed and quickly joined him, laying beside him as she put her arm around him and gave his cheek the softest kiss, taking care not to wake him. She looked down at the sleeping face of her Oswald and it was hard to hold back from weeping again as she wished she could make him see this situation for what it was. Julian wasn't to blame. And he needed Oswald – if only Oswald could see that. She decided she would try and talk to him tomorrow, after breakfast, after Oswald had got his business matters out of the way– then she would catch him before he hit the booze again to drown his sorrows and maybe this time, he would listen to her...

As Molly grew sleepy as she lay beside Oswald, the nets shifted ghostly, moved by the warm summer breeze, Molly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, and with it, sleep brought a strange dream...

_Molly was no stranger to visions. Scarily, they came true, too – but this one? It was unlike anything she had ever dreamed before:_

The night was dark. The full moon shone round and silver, a perfect globe to light the inky sky above as Julian walked alone through darkened hallways. It was a big mansion, maybe it was Shepard Lambrick's house, or maybe it was just a place she was yet to visit, Molly did not know this house...

Julian walked slowly along the hallway, his fingertips trailing the wall as he went. And the wolf was a few paces behind, never losing sight of him as it watched, padding silently after him and he carried on walking through those darkened halls, his footfalls heavy and deliberate as he took his time, seeming oblivious to the fact that he was being followed. He went up a flight of steps and the wolf padded after him.

It set its sights on the half open doorway, standing there in shadow with eyes silently fixed on Julian as he stood in his bedroom, he was in front of a full length mirror that looked antique as he stripped off his t shirt. He didn't hear the wolf breathing softly as it stood there, taking in the sight of his toned upper body as he ran his fingers through his fair hair, smirked at his reflection and reached for his belt. He unbuckled it and began to take off the rest of his clothing. He was there reflected in the eyes of the wolf who hid in shadow as he walked naked into the bathroom.

_And the wolf silently padded into the bedroom to lie in wait..._

Molly woke with a jolt, sitting up feeling sure something was in the room with her. Then she gave a gasp as she saw the wolf reflected in the mirror. She blinked, and the wolf had gone as only her own green eyes stared back at her...

When morning came, while Oswald was still in bed and nursing a mild hangover and saying little as Molly handed him his morning tea, she had taken one look at her husband, seen that deep sadness in his eyes and then decided, she could not talk to him about Julian yet.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked as she stood there, hair still damp from the shower as he sat on the bed in his silk robe looking tired and worn out from the booze that had temporarily numbed the pain. He looked as if his heart was broken.

“Of course I did my dear,” Oswald replied as he met her gaze, “Why should I have trouble sleeping? I've done nothing to trouble my conscience.”

“That's not what I meant -” she began, but the door opened and Luna hurried in.

“Grandpa's on your phone!” she said with a big smile as she handed Molly her phone.

Oswald smiled too, instantly brightening at the sight of his daughter standing there in her pale summer dress.

“Oh yes – Kane is coming over to visit soon. Are you looking forward to seeing Grandpa, Luna?”

“Yes!” she said excitedly.

“I'll take the call downstairs,” Molly told him, then as Felix toddled in, she set him down on the bed next to Oswald, who put his tea aside.

“I'll deal with the kids this morning,” he said.

“I won't be long,” Molly replied, “Cain's already up and downstairs.”

She walked out of the room and made for the stairs, speaking on the phone quickly:

“Dad,” she said in a low voice, “Something has happened... it's Julian...”

While Oswald got Felix dressed, Molly cooked breakfast for the kids, and she was still on the phone to her father as Oswald came into the kitchen. Cain had been listening to what Molly had been saying, and the last part he caught had made him smile.

“Guess what, Dad?” he said excitedly.

Oswald was busy with Felix, preparing to give him breakfast.

“What, son?”

“Could you be quiet for a moment, I'm talking to Grandpa!” Molly said, then she listened as her father spoke again:

“It really is no trouble at all, Molly. Me and your Mam would love to see the kids, and Connor said he's got some leave coming up, so I think this would work out just fine. It's up to you of course - but at this moment, with the stuff that's happening with poor Julian, I think it would be better handled with the kids out of the way. They've got school holidays coming up next week, and you certainly need some time alone to talk to Oswald about all of this – it sounds like he can't get past his anger. I've seen men do terrible things in the heat of the moment and regret it later, Molly. He can't do that to his son, he's got to see sense and look at the facts here.”

“Thanks Dad,” Molly said, and she managed a smile as she turned the eggs over and the breakfast continued to cook as her father continued speaking.

“I think you and Oswald need a few days alone to talk this over – he must realise what made Julian do that, and Julian needs him more than ever... And I don't think he's grasped exactly what this means, either – his son doesn't have long to live even if he doesn't force him to have the surgery. He's going to lose him and look back on this and regret everything he's done if he doesn't come to his senses.”

“Yes, I know,” Molly said as her smile faded, “Thanks for this, Dad, the kids will love it.”

“Is Oswald there now?”

“We're about to have breakfast,” Molly replied.

“Then I'll call Connor and tell him the plan and call you back later on,” Kane said, “And Molly – I know it must be terrible at the moment, with everything that's happened, and I'm thinking of you all.”

“Speak later, Dad, and thanks,” she said again, then she ended the call and looked to the table.

“Now you can tell your Dad,” she said.

Cain smiled as he looked across the table at Oswald.

“Me and Luna and Felix are going away with Grandpa and Connor, we're going to Ireland for two weeks!”

Oswald blinked and looked at Molly.

“When was this decided?”

“This morning,” Molly replied as she started to dish up breakfast, “Connor's got some leave and Dad said in light of what's happened, it would give us time to work things through, there's stuff that we can't talk about right now, you know what I mean.”

Oswald nodded.

“Yes, of course,” he agreed, then he looked to the children, “You're going to have a wonderful time!”

Then he exchanged a look with Molly, saying no more, he understood this was a difficult time and didn't want the kids picking up on more than they already had. Molly tried to push all worries from her mind as they had breakfast, because the kids were happy. Then Cain slid a card across the table and handed it to Oswald.

“I made this for Julian,” he said.

Oswald looked at the home made card with leprechauns on it.

“That's very nice, son,” he replied, reading the get well message inside, “Did you print this off on your computer?”

“Yes,” Cain told him, “I made it myself – with the printer.”

“And that was very thoughtful,” Molly added.

Oswald reached for his tea and said nothing.

After breakfast, as the older two got ready for school, Oswald took Felix through to the front room to watch his morning cartoons, and on the way out, he dropped the card into the kitchen bin. Molly shot a disapproving look behind his back and took it out again. She didn't want to turn this into an argument, but she would _definitely_ make sure Julian got that card when she saw River...

Later that morning, Josh turned up to meet with his boss. It was Oswald who opened the door because he said, Molly had gone shopping after the school run, and as he led him through to the front room, Felix toddled up to him with his sippy cup in his hand.

“Hello!” he said brightly as Josh smiled down at him.

“Hello Felix!”

“Let's go outside, my boy can play on the lawn while we talk,” Oswald told him, and then Oswald picked up a few of his son's toys and limped outside as Felix grabbed his comfort blanket and dragged it out with him, it was blue with a penguin on it, and as Josh saw Oswald move stiffly to take it from his son to spread it on the lawn, he stepped in to help his boss, laying it out flat as Felix sat down on it in the shade of a tree.

“Thank you,” Oswald said, “I guess it won't be long before you and Selina think about starting a family.”

“Probably soon,” Josh agreed, then he turned his thoughts to the matter at hand, “I'm so sorry – about Julian, about everything that happened.”

As they stood near the tree and the sun shone down, Oswald leaned on his cane with a sad look in his eyes.

“I have little choice in how to handle this. Julian will die without intervention, and the surgery will leave him very debilitated, but after what he did to Molly, I can't say that's a total disaster. I want to be sure he can never do this again, Josh. I'm sure you see my point of view.”

“Yes sir,” Josh said vaguely as he looked away. He hated to agree with a decision he knew was wrong, but Oswald was his boss and he could tell by the look in his eyes and they way he had spoken that clearly, he wasn't over the shock of this happening yet. Then Oswald gestured to a table on the patio nearby.

“Let's sit down and discuss business, I can watch my son from here. He loves the garden. He's going to grow up to be a fine young man, a gentleman, just like Cain, he will be a decent boy too,” he added as he limped over to the table and sat down. Josh sat down too and Oswald reached for a pile of paperwork.

“But I guess we should have expected this terrible incident with Julian,” he added, “With the terrible life he had with his first family, it's no surprise he turned out the way he did. I guess I should have known better than to let him into our lives in the first place.”

Then he turned the conversation to business as Josh wondered if he ought to mention Ivy Pepper to Oswald at all. He was talking as if Julian was a monster – and he didn't doubt if he suggested an alternative way to help him, in his current mood, Oswald would fly into a rage...

Molly had not gone shopping. She had gone over to the clinic to see River. She had handed her the card as soon as she arrived and River had looked down at it and smiled.

“Maybe you should give it to him,” she said, “He had a bad time for a while last night. He changed rapidly in front of me, one minute I knew him and the next I did not. But I sedated him and he slept through the night.”

“How is he this morning?” Molly asked.

River gave a sigh as they sat together in her office and the morning sunlight fell in through the window.

“He was rational when he woke – still upset and very scared – and he's been having nose bleeds, it's a consequence of the changes to the brain tissue. I gave him some medication to settle the bleeding, it will work for a while - and he's having more scans this afternoon, I need to see the problem from every angle, so that if I find something to treat it, I've got everything prepared. I can't understand why the remains of the tissue wasn't wiped out when I removed the rest of it and then treated the damage with the formula – it healed the rest of his brain, but that one area just didn't respond.”

“Maybe you need a new formula?” Molly suggested, and River shook her head.

“I did the repair work post mortem before I brought him back,” she reminded her, “And that scar tissue is too deep to cut out without causing the kind of damage that Dad doesn't give a shit about in his current state of mind.”

Molly looked at River and they both fell silent for a moment, then Molly spoke up again.

“The kids are going to Ireland to see my parents. My brother Connor is going with them. That gives me time alone with Oswald, hopefully I can make him see the truth of the matter.”

“Maybe he just needs time for the shock to wear off,” River agreed, “I honestly think if anyone can get through to him, it's you, Molly.”

“God knows, I'm going to try!” she replied.

River handed the card back to her.

“Let's go and see Julian. He's not in restraints, he's been heavily sedated and it's just starting to wear off. He's very tired right now and he won't be a threat if he changes suddenly. You're safe.”

As River got up, so did Molly.

“Thanks for reminding me, but River, I can handle myself,” she told her, “Julian couldn't win a fight if he tried. He was lucky to get away with me knocking him out – but I never want to be forced to hit him again,” then she paused, thinking on the events of the night before, “Iris has left him. I told Oswald this morning and there was barely a flicker of emotion in his voice as he said,_ that's understandable_. I know he's still processing this, but it's so hard to see him like that, being so cold towards Julian.”

They had left the office and headed for the elevator. It opened up and they stepped inside and River hit the button for the first floor.

“That's my Dad,” she replied, “The toughest, smartest man to ever fight his way to the top and become king of the underworld – but while they know Penguin as a hard and ruthless man not to be crossed, when it comes to something like this, Oswald Cobblepot is a sensitive, old fashioned gentleman who can not entertain - even for a moment - the possibility of sexual violence happening within his family. He's just a good man who can't believe a bad thing happened, Molly. And we have to be patient with that.”

“I know,” Molly agreed, “My Oswald wouldn't be like this, not under any other circumstances. He went to war to save Julian from Bane. He loves his family. He wouldn't turn his back on any of them.”

The elevator stopped and they got out at the first floor, then Molly walked with River up the corridor.

“I know you handled the attack, but are you okay, Molly?” River asked as they reached Julian's door. Molly nodded.

“I'm as okay as I can be considering Julian went crazy and Oswald hates him and wants to put him through inhumane surgery as revenge,” she said quietly, “I can't let him do it, River. We have to find another way.”

“And I'm trying,” River assured her, “But what I meant was, are _you_ okay, after he attacked you?”

“He was easy to fight off. And I know it wasn't his fault,” she paused for thought.

“Should I tell him about Iris?”

“I think he knows she will respond by leaving,” River replied, “He already knows she doesn't want to see him. It's better if you tell him now and get it over with.”

River unlocked the door. Molly took a deep breath. Breaking bad news at a time like this wouldn't be easy...

“_Molly's here to see you.”_

River had spoken softly, gently touching Julian's cheek as he turned his head and looked up at her. The restraints were off and his wrists looked bruised and sore. His eyes were glazed and he drew in a slow breath, still feeling the effect of the sedative as he spoke.

“Is she?” he whispered.

Molly got closer to the bed as River stepped back, then she sat down on a chair next to the bed and took hold of Julian's hand. He wasn't shaking any more, and he looked very, very sedated as he slowly grasped her hand, managing a smile as he looked up at her.

“Hi, Molly.”

She wanted to cry but held it back. If she succeeded in talking Oswald out of putting him through the surgery, this was how Julian would spend his final months, heavily sedated in a locked room.

“How are you today, Julian?”

“I'm tired,” he replied slowly, “Very tired.”

She showed him the card and he smiled.

“Cain did that.”

“Yes, he did.”

“Tell him thanks.”

Molly swept a hand over Julian's hair as she looked into his eyes.

“Yes I will,” she promised him, “He loves you so much. All the kids do. And we all miss you.”

“_Except Dad.”_

Molly paused for a moment.

“Oswald hasn't come to terms with what's happened yet. But he will, I'll make sure he understands!”

“Where's Iris?” he asked weakly.

“Julian, she couldn't handle it love, she said it brought everything back to her – not just you, but memories of Shepard and what she saw that night. And it brought back her brother's death, too. That's why she left. I'm sorry, but she's gone.”

Julian's eyes filled with tears as he gave a sob.

“_But I love her!”_

“I know you do, and I'm sorry. And I'm still here, I won't give up you, not ever,” Molly reminded him.

He held her hand a little tighter as he blinked to clear his vision, focussing on her eyes as he fought off another heavy wave of exhaustion.

“Why can't Dad let me stay here? River said I could have a year left... I could just stay here and not have the operation and then there's no chance of me hurting anyone.”

“Sweetheart, let me do the worrying,” Molly said softly, “Don't think about any of it, just rest.”

All the worry faded from his gaze as he looked up at her.

“I trust you, Molly. I know you want to help me...”

“I will help,” she promised.

Julian's hand slid from her grip as he closed his eyes and slipped back into a heavy sleep. Molly got up, pausing to kiss his cheek, and then she left the room quietly and River locked the door once more.

“It's not fair,” she said as they headed back towards the elevator, “He's thirty years old and he's dying because those sick bastards at Ashecliffe put the Tetch virus in his head! We have to find a solution to this, River.”

As the doors opened they stepped inside, heading for the ground floor.

“I think while I work on a solution,” River said, “if there is one – you should work on persuading Dad to change his mind about the surgery. If all else fails, we can keep Julian here indefinitely – he won't be a threat while he's sedated. I know it's not ideal, but at least he will have some quality of life and know he's loved and cared for until the end.”

They left the elevator and River walked with Molly to the doors that led back to the parking area.

“I'd better go straight home, I told Oswald I went shopping,” Molly said as she pressed her hand to the door as it begun to open. Then it stopped, frozen ajar as she hesitated, recalling something strange as she turned back to River.

“I had a dream last night – Julian was walking through the halls of a big house. I didn't know the place. And there was a wolf...”

“Maybe it's the fallout from him attacking you. Wolves hunt down their prey.”

“No,” Molly said in confusion, “No River, it wasn't like that – he didn't know the wolf was there.”

“Then maybe it's representative of the alter ego coming out in him, being a threat to him.”

River had sounded confident about this, but Molly shook her head.

“No,” she said again, “The wolf _definitely_ wasn't Julian.”

“Then who do you think it was?” River asked her.

Molly recalled it instantly:

_Waking to see the wolf in the mirror reflected, then it faded out and all she saw..._

“Never mind,” she said with a shake of her head, “It was just a dream, I'd better get home to Oswald. I'll call you later.”

Then she left the building and headed back to her car, still thinking about that dream. River had been completely wrong with her interpretation, she was sure of it as she remembered what she had seen on waking...

Josh had finished running over paperwork with Oswald, and then they had tea on the patio. Then Oswald limped over to Felix and as he leaned on his cane and smiled down at his son and the boy looked happily up at his father, Josh looked on, feeling sure Oswald was a great father – it was just that he couldn't contemplate what Julian had done. And now was definitely _not_ the time to talk to him about Ivy Pepper...

Then Molly came out to join them. She was in her usual blue jeans and a white vest and her hair hung loose at her shoulders. She gave Oswald a wave as Josh rose from his seat, gathering up the paperwork.

“I was just about to leave, Molly.”

“I'll see you out, Josh,” Molly said, then she paused to glance over at Oswald, who had sat down on the lawn with his son.

“I'll see Josh to the door, love!” she called out, and Oswald smiled back, then turned back to his son as the little boy clapped his hands and started to talk to his Daddy again.

“Thanks for stopping by today,” Molly said as she led Josh to the front door, “I don't doubt Oswald wasn't quite himself today – he's finding it hard to handle, the thought of what Julian did. Right now he's forgotten that Julian has fought this thing ever since Ashecliffe. I just hope I can get through to him about the cause of it. He can't put Julian through that surgery, it's not right.”

As Molly opened the door, they both stepped outside and as they stood there on the porch, Josh decided it would do no harm to tell Mrs Cobblepot about Selina's idea.

“I don't know if this will help,” Josh began carefully, glancing about to be sure no one else overheard, “But Selina said to me that Ivy Pepper might be able to help Julian. Ivy's the person who cured her paralysis years ago. But she said she lives in a forest and she's a bit crazy now... She used to be known as Poison Ivy, because she created dangerous plants and the city had to burn them after the war?”

Molly had been listening intently.

“I've not heard of her,” she replied, “But, I've only been here ten years, and he's never mentioned her to me.”

“She was also known as the Witch?”

Molly shook her head.

“Nope, never heard the name,” she replied, “But I'll ask Selina about this... you might have come up with a solution, Josh. Thank you, it's worth looking into, anything is worth a try right now.”

“I was going to mention it to Oswald,” Josh told her, “But the way he talks about Julian – I can tell he's still in shock. I thought it might be best not to say anything just yet.”

Molly smiled as she briefly placed a hand on the arm of his suit.

“But I'm glad you told me,” she said, “Thank you, Josh. Please tell Selina I'll stop by soon and have a chat about this.”

Josh smiled back, but felt a flicker of apprehension. This was difficult territory. His boss wasn't receptive to the idea of doing anything constructive to help Julian, and now he had gone and told Molly all about the idea...

“Maybe you can mention this to Oswald when he's ready to listen,” he added, “And by the way, Selina didn't want to talk to me about Ivy. They used to be close friends and then they lost touch. She got upset when she started to tell me about her.”

Molly nodded.

“Leave it to me,” she said, “I won't say it came from you. I won't even mention they were close. I'll just say, someone in the Lounge was saying, Ivy used to come here in the old days... I hope that's right, I don't know if she did or not – but I'll mention that I heard her and Selina used to hang out. If she had a known reputation after the bridges fell, that info could have come from anyone who remembered her.”

“That's a good idea,” Josh agreed, “I'll tell Selina everything – later on – but if you think it's worth trying to find out where she is, go ahead and talk to my wife. I really want to help. I'm just sorry I can't do more.”

Molly smiled fondly.

“You're doing all you can, and it's appreciated, Josh,” she promised him, then he returned her smile and walked away back towards his car.

Molly closed the door and thought again about the information she had just received:

If Ivy Pepper was still around and she could heal the sick, maybe, just maybe, there was a chance she could help Julian... She had to speak to Selina, but first, she was going to speak to Oswald, carefully, and find out all he knew about the elusive Poison Ivy...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“_Stop thinking about work, that can wait for tomorrow, we've got better things to do!”_

As Selina whispered that, she was naked on top of Josh, who was face down and she was pressing that strap on dildo so close to his ass it felt like a tease. She had caught the look in his eyes as he kissed her, glancing to the papers on the table on the other side of the bedroom, and she wasn't going to let him work, not when she had missed him all morning and that paperwork didn't have to be done today...

“Sorry, I'm just feeling the pressure -” Josh gasped.

Now he _was _feeling pressure - as she slid it deep inside him, laughing softly as his body tensed beneath her.

“I warned you mine is bigger,” she playfully reminded him as she trailed her nails down his back lightly, then thrust again.

Now all Josh could think about was the in and out motion of lubrication and bliss as she fucked him from behind, he got up on his hands and knees and panted hard as she picked up the pace and he started to shake as she reached around, pinching his nipples and making those cat-like claws felt as she raked them down his chest then did the same to his back.

He was thinking how he would be covered in red stripes by the time she had finished, then she hit the right spot deep inside yet again and he lost control, coming hard with a sharp gasp as he spilled on to the bed and she thrust in one more time, feeling every shake of his body. She withdrew as he collapsed and rolled on his back, then she took off the toy and cast it aside and as she lay in his arms, they were both wrecked in a good way, breathless and perspiring and flushed as the heat of the afternoon filled the bedroom with the scent of summer air mingled with sex.

“Now you can relax and leave work until tomorrow,” she said, softly kissing the side of his neck as he smiled.

“And tomorrow I have work to do for Oswald,” he reminded her, “I'm taking over from Jax until he gets back and with the stuff that's happening within the family, it's so important I don't mess up.”

Selina raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she smiled and bobbled, curled hair framed her face.

“You won't ever mess up,” she assured him, “You're absolutely dedicated to working for Oswald. You'll never let him down.”

Josh held her closer, saying nothing in reply as he thought about his conversation with Molly. He hadn't meant to to talk behind Oswald's back about a possible way to help Julian, but his boss just wasn't willing to listen to suggestions at this moment, and it was clear something had to be done... He just hoped when Penguin was ready to listen, if it ever got back to him that he was the one who said it, he would understand why he had mentioned Ivy Pepper to Molly...

Oswald had just finished watching Ed Nygma make the announcement to a sea of press. He performed well, as always, flashing a smile as he looked to the camera, knowing the whole of Gotham had their eyes on him. Then he had taken on a serious tone as he had broken the news about Julian. He had handled the press well, refusing to give out more information, he had delivered that conference just as he had been asked, it was a perfect speech.

“He's going to do great on the city council,” Oswald said as he turned off the TV.

“Yes, I don't doubt that he will,” Molly replied as she stood there beside Oswald, who was sitting on a comfortable, high backed, antique leather chair with his crippled leg propped up on a padded footstool.

She glanced to the drink beside him and watched as he raised it and took another sip. The older kids were at school and Felix was having a nap. This was Oswald's first drink of the day and he had started early, determined to keep up the cycle of drinking to numb his pain whilst clinging to his own interpretation of what had happened.

If she was going to speak to him about Ivy, it was best to do it now, before two or three drinks more would see him getting tearful again. She had caught him that morning after Josh left, sitting in his study, a picture of Julian in his hands, he was looking at that picture of him and Julian taken at Christmas for a long time before he realised she had been standing there in the doorway. Then he had put it down again, frame facing the desk, and got up and left the study... Now really did seem like the best time to ask about Ivy, and she didn't waste the chance, knowing Felix would probably wake soon, he never napped for long in the day time in the summer heat.

“I heard someone mention a name today – while I was out shopping... some lady said something about Ivy Pepper?”

As she asked that, Molly sat down on the sofa, stretching out her legs in her short summer dress as she met Oswald's gaze. She saw it right away: _Oh yes, he knew that name..._

“Now there's a name I haven't heard for a long while!” Oswald exclaimed, “Yes, my dear, I recall Ivy – she was very beautiful and very smart... too smart with those plants of hers! She's not what I would call a builder of any kind, not when it came to her criminal activities. She did _nothing_ constructive for the city. Her plants caused damage – and they were dangerous! Buildings had to be torn down because her deadly plants had wrapped around them! I don't approve of destruction, not when it comes to this city of ours, Molly. But yes, I recall Ivy. I knew her in the old days...” he paused, thinking back, “Many years ago, when Edward and I had... a dispute, he shot me, as you know – and it was Ivy Pepper who tended to my wound and I stayed with her until I recovered. So I don't dislike her, Molly – I just disapprove of her ways with her plants. She let them get out of control. The city burned them in the end, when peace time came at last and Gotham declared its independence.”

“Where is she now?” Molly asked.

Oswald leaned back comfortably in his chair.

“I have no idea, Molly. I heard she turned her back on city life after the plants were destroyed. She went deep into the forest just outside of Gotham, far off the official map of the area. There's a lot of wilderness out there. That's where she made her home. And I haven't seen or heard of her since.”

He paused again, thinking back on old memories. Then he looked sharply at Molly as his bright eyes shone with intense curiosity.

“I would love to know who mentioned her after all these years!”

Molly shrugged.

“A lady in a clothing store... said Selina came in sometimes, then she said she used to go to the iceberg lounge with Selina and Ivy Pepper. That's when she asked me if I knew Ivy.”

Molly felt a sting of guilt for lying to Oswald, but right now, there was no other way around this.

“What did she look like?”

Molly laughed.

“I can't remember! I was so busy this morning that I didn't really pay attention to detail! I'll have to go back there some time, I might see here again... So, Ivy... she experimented with plants?”

Oswald gave a sigh. He set down his drink and paused, thinking back.

“Yes, she did. After the bridges fell, people started calling her the Witch. There was always something unearthly about Ivy... She could have done great things with her gift, but all she did was make wild, dangerous plants. Some could move and obey her will. They say she used to use creeping vines to kill her enemies. She was greatly feared by the time she turned a local park into her domain, after the city burned the man eating plants, they found some skeletons, presumably people who had been attacked by the vines – but there was no proof of this, because there were bodies found all over Gotham after the war, when the clean up began. No one could say, it was Ivy who did it. But I heard she's very dangerous these days, that she went crazy after the city destroyed her precious plants, and she probably still is!”

“But Selina knew her?”

“In the old days, yes,” Oswald told her, “But she hasn't seen or heard from her for years – at least, not that I'm aware of... why are you so interested in Ivy?”

He had set his Arctic sights on her, and it was hard to stretch this lie as that bright gaze of his held her.

“I was curious,” she replied, “Apparently Selina was shot by Jeremiah Velaska and it was Ivy who healed her -”

“Oh Molly!” a look of deep understanding suddenly came to his face, and as he abandoned his drink and got up and limped over to the couch and sat beside her as he took hold of her hand, she knew in that moment he had seen through it. Finally, his icy heart had melted towards Julian, surely, the clever man this city knew as the Penguin had finally put two and two together and realised there was hope for his son...

_Then he spoke, and she realised she was wrong._

“And it's brought it all back to you again,” he said, giving sigh, “Oh Molly, my dear, please stop thinking about what Valeska did to me ten years ago!”

“I'm not thinking about that!”

He smiled fondly as love filled his gaze.

“Molly, we both know you often think back to those dark days after my abduction... You've told me about it a hundred times! And I don't doubt hearing his name gave you flashbacks. But I'm okay now, look at me...” he chuckled and patted his chubby belly as it sat hanging just a little over his belt, “I'm older and heavier – but still here, my love! We've survived a great deal, you and I,” he added, “And yes, Selina was shot by Jeremiah many years ago. But Ivy cured her paralysis when all else failed, with some kind of plant seed. I don't know if it's true, but they say that's when Selina gained _real _skills for climbing and jumping. They say the Witch cured her ills and that turned her into the Cat, but that could just be gossip. There's a lot of strange folklore borne of the troubled times of war. And Selina is now married to Josh and he works for me and we see them both at social gatherings, sometimes here at the house too and yes, they feel like family – of course you would think about Jeremiah when you heard all that! But Molly, he's missing, he's probably been dead for years. Velaska is no threat to us now.”

Molly forced a smile.

“Right,” she said quietly, giving Oswald's hand a squeeze. Clearly, his first assumption had been the flashbacks and yet again, he had gone into protective mode. In that moment, she really hasn't sure if he was ready to hear her thoughts on Julian, so she decided to cautiously approach the subject to test his reaction.

“I try not to think about the past too much,” she told him, “Especially now, when we have so many worries in the present... I was just thinking, maybe you should see Julian again.”

Oswald let go of her hand, blinking as he struggled to comprehend her statement.

“Why should I do that?” he asked.

“Because he needs _help_, Oswald. I don't want him to have that surgery. Even River is against it, she's a doctor, she knows what she's talking about! I know he had no control when he attacked me.”

All trace of warmth left his gaze.

“Molly,” he said firmly, “I understand you want to see the best in him, but he has become dangerous!”

“He's dying!”

Oswald looked at her, saying nothing as she caught a flicker of emotion in his eyes. It was there, along with the threat of tears, then it was gone.

“I don't want to discuss him,” he replied dismissing the subject with a wave of his hand, “I know what he did, I saw it with my own eyes!”

Molly reached for his hands, grasping them firmly as he looked away.

“I said, _no,_ Molly!” he told her stiffly.

“Oswald, you don't have to look at me to listen! I know you still care about Julian. I was thinking about choices today... and I think maybe, River could keep him at the clinic, securely – he would be a threat to no one and she could look after him. Even if no possibility of a cure turned up in the next twelve months, he wouldn't suffer, Oswald!”

Oswald turned his head, meeting her gaze sharply.

“I refuse to listen to this,” he replied, “I love you, and I can see why we disagree on the subject – but Molly, he will die if he doesn't have the tissue removed. And I'm not ready to bury my son!”

He looked away again.

“So you're doing this because you love him, to keep him alive? Oswald, there has to be another way!”

He let go of her hands and glared at her. It was like feeling a physical force, getting hit with the icy cold, furious gaze of the Penguin - in that moment, all the years they had shared did not come into the matter as he glared at her in fury.

“Never question my judgement or motive!” he said coldly, “And_ don't_ presume everything I do is always from my heart! That man tried to rape you! He's still breathing only because his second name is Cobblepot!”

“He's still alive because you love him and you _know_ he had no choice or control over his actions!”

“_No, Molly!”_ Oswald stood up as he raised his voice as Molly stood up too and they glared at each other.

“You are wrong,” Oswald stated as he leaned hard on his cane, “I have no love for my son after what he did! I am merely doing the right thing by preserving his life and ensuring he's never a threat again! Which is better than a bullet to the head - considering I used to think of him as a son!”

_But you still call him your son,_ Molly thought silently. This was not going well, she stepped back and shook her head as she looked into the eyes of the man she loved – who loved her so much he was blinding himself to the truth of why Julian had attacked her.

“I love you too much to fight with you, Oswald,” Molly said softly, “And I'm going upstairs now, maybe you should join me?”

Oswald looked back at his glass.

“You rest, I'll have a drink,” he replied, “I think this ordeal has taken its toll on us both in different ways.”

Molly shook her head.

“You need to wake up and understand the facts,” she said angrily, “It's_ not _Julian's fault, he's sick! And you want to make him suffer because of what he did when the scar tissue reactivated – something he had no control over! I'm going to lie down before Felix wakes. While I'm resting, maybe you should take some time to look for your compassion – I don't like this side of you, it's ugly!” she glanced at the glass he had just snatched up, “And_ stop_ feckin' drinking, man!”

Oswald's jaw dropped.

“Molly - wait - let me explain -”

“_Piss off!”_ she muttered, then turned away and left the room just as Felix called out _Mommy_ from upstairs.

“Mummy's here!” Molly called back, then she went upstairs, leaving Oswald standing alone with a drink in his hand as he clutched the glass angrily as tears filled his eyes. Then he drank it down in one go and poured himself another as his gaze fell on a photo in a frame, a picture of him and Julian and Molly and he looked away, wiping tears from his face that he could not allow his wife to see.

_The days passed and the week came to an end._

Life had never felt so tough as it did now, as Molly avoided the subject of Julian and Oswald behaved as if he didn't exist, while he called Josh and checked he was up to speed on overseeing the duties he had tasked him with. Jax had called again, expressing sincere sympathy for the incident with Julian. He offered to come back to work early, but Oswald had said everything was under control, and told him to enjoy his time with his baby daughter. River and Victor had come over to the house, and Victor had tried to mention Julian, but Oswald had steered the conversation towards the lounge as he insisted on running over profit figures with Victor as River rolled her eyes and looked to Molly and shook her head.

Molly had called the clinic every day since Julian had been admitted. River had even allowed him to talk to her on the phone, and that had made her smile. He had sounded just like the Julian she knew and loved, but so very tired because the medication made him drowsy. River was still struggling to keep his personality changes under control. It seemed to lie dormant for a while and then spike again, and that was when she had to sedate him heavily.

_By now, he had been in the clinic almost seven days._

_In all that time, Oswald had not changed his mind about how to handle Julian's condition._

Molly had heard Oswald on the phone to River as they stood at the airport, saying goodbye to the kids. Connor had Felix in his arms and Kane had just hugged the older kids, smiling as he said Grandma couldn't wait to see them.

“Don't worry, sis,” Connor had said as he looked to Molly, “I'll keep an eye on everyone – give my love to Julian.”

And as he looked at her, she felt sure her brother, with his healing abilities as one of the Resurrected, somehow sensed the seed of a plan that was growing in her mind.

“I will, you can be sure of that,” she told him, and as they headed off to catch their flight and Molly waved to the kids, Oswald was still on the phone to River.

“I know it's only been a week, but he's dangerous, River! You need to start looking for a surgeon – Julian is having that operation and soon, I can't rest until I know he's no longer a threat to my wife – or any other woman!”

Molly had heard every word he had said. He finished speaking to River and hung up, in time to look up and wave to the kids just before they headed off to board their flight.

_And now her mind was made up._

_Julian wasn't having that surgery._

_She would find another way even if she had to take him from the clinic go on the run..._

Later that afternoon, Molly stood outside the brand new house on Fountain Drive. She rang the bell and moments later, Selina answered the door.

“Hi Molly,” she said with a smile.

Selina looked so different these days, happier, settled. That was what love did, Molly reflected, then felt a flicker of sadness at how the disagreement over Julian had pushed her and Oswald apart. She had tried to be loving, patient, and when that didn't work, arguing had not got through to him either. And now she was here, because she had a plan, and it seemed like the only way forward...

“I was just passing,” Molly said. “Thought I'd stop by.”

“Come in,” Selina said, and Molly went inside.

They went through to a bright kitchen were Selina poured Molly iced tea and then they went out to the garden and sat down on a bench and Selina looked at Molly thoughtfully.

“I guess it can't be too easy at home right now – I know what Oswald can be like when he's decided on something – and by the way, I agree, he's totally wrong to want to put Julian through that surgery. Josh feels the same way too but he can't say, Oswald's his boss and he admires him and he wouldn't want to do anything to upset him.”

Molly nodded.

“I get that, he is in a difficult position,” she agreed, then she sipped her tea and looked intently at Selina.

“Someone said to me you used to go to the Lounge with Ivy Pepper. Oswald was telling me about her the other day, he said she created dangerous plants and the city had to burn them?”

Selina paused for thought, looking to the fence where vines grew peacefully and normally, as she thought back to the monsters Ivy had created in the dark days after Gotham fell.

“She went crazy before she left, maybe not exactly crazy but she got darker, ruthless... the plants were her world.”

“And the city burned her world?”

Selina nodded.

“I still miss her,” she said, and her eyes shaded with sorrow, “She's not someone I can ever forget.”

“Sorry, I know this is hard,” Molly replied, “But I heard about her and I was wondering, is she still out there somewhere? I'd never heard of her until recently.”

“I heard she left the city, went deep into the forest many east of the new Gotham Bridge, that area is huge, and the further you go off the road, the wilder it gets. I wouldn't want to know who or what is living out there. Past the small towns and the pretty countryside, it gets dark, Molly. I've never gone there. I wouldn't know where to begin to look for her. And that's exactly what she wants. To be alone with her plants.”

“Is she dangerous?” Molly asked.

Selina drank her iced tea, pausing to let the chill of the ice take the heat off the day and clear the sadness from her mind.

“Probably,” she replied, “ I'd say if anyone trespassed on to her land, she would probably kill them – or get the plants to do it for her. I still miss her, though...”

Molly stayed a while longer, turned the conversation to Josh taking on the General's work while he was on leave, then she talked about the house and listened to Selina's plans for a pool in the back garden. She left soon after, and when she drove away, Molly's mind was made up :

_There was only one way to handle this situation, before Julian's life was destroyed and Oswald had to live with terrible regrets..._

On the way home, Molly called River, who told her Julian was resting, he had an episode of aggression earlier and had needed to be sedated. He had just started to wake up, and he had suffered another nose bleed, but he was very much the Julian they knew once more, and tearful because he was aware he had slipped away for a while. River had assured him that he had not tried to harm her, but he knew that look on her face, she had experienced his other persona yet again, and he kept apologising for it as he fought the sedative and tried to stay awake. He was resting now and had calmed down. River said she was working late that night, because she was studying more scan images of the scar tissue.

“And I'll be over to see you around seven,” Molly replied, “Can I count on you, River?”

There was a pause.

“What do you mean, Molly?”

“I mean, can I trust you?”

“Is there a plan?”

“Yes there is,” Molly told her as she took the road that led back to the mansion, “I'll tell you more this evening. Don't let Oswald know I'm coming over.”

“Dad won't know,” River replied, “He never calls to ask about Julian. He only asks when he's having the surgery. I'm still stalling on that.”

“Well, I've come up with an alternative plan,” Molly replied, “I'll see you tonight.” Then she ended the call as she drove through the open gates of the mansion.

Molly went inside the house and closed the door, guessing Oswald would be in the study, she could smell the trace of cigarette smoke in the air. That was where he smoked, secretly, and she wasn't supposed to know... She didn't doubt he was still drinking, trying to shut out the truth and his own pain as he sat alone, and she wanted to go to him and put her arms around him. But first, she had to take care of something else.

Molly went upstairs and hurried down to Julian's room, she went inside and closed the door, grabbed an overnight bag and opened it up, then quickly packed some clothing for him. Then she left the bag on the bed and looked to the door of the playroom he had shared with Iris. In her haste to leave, the door was left unlocked, and Molly turned the handle and went inside, looking around at the room that summed up all of Julian's kinks, a legacy of the years he had spent in Ashecliffe:

The walls were white. There was a bed in the corner. There was a table full of sex toys and stuff that looked vaguely medical. In the middle of the room there was an examination couch with restraints attached – she didn't doubt after the situation he was currently in, he wouldn't want to be put in those again for a long while...

She went over to the table on the other side of the room, ignoring the sex toys and reaching for a pair of handcuffs. They were solid metal and the key was beside them. She snatched up both, and left the room and closed the door behind her, then she put the cuffs in the bag and zipped it shut.

She took the bag from Julian's room to her own, where she grabbed a holdall and hurried packed some of her own clothing into it. Then she left the room and hurried down the stairs, pausing to glance down the hallway: No sign of Oswald... Molly went outside, put both bags in her car and then returned to the house, her heart feeling heavy as she thought about the choice she had made, but there was no other way and she hoped in time Oswald would understand that.

“You're not going to change your mind about Julian, are you?” Molly asked as she stood behind Oswald's chair and wrapped her arms around him.

“No, Molly, I am not,” he told her as he looked up at her, “And I'm glad you understand why.”

Molly leaned closer, smiling as she recalled the look of surprise in his pale gaze as she had walked into the room and embraced him. It was time for them to make peace, they certainly had to before tonight... Molly didn't think about the plan that lie ahead as she leaned in and kissed him softly. Her heart was breaking at the choices she had made, but she had only done so because of Oswald's choice...

“Let's go to bed, Ozzie,” she said softly.

The summer breeze drifted in through the window as they rolled on the bed, Oswald's suit was in a heap on the floor and Molly's clothing was discarded beside it. She had wasted no time taking him upstairs and straight to bed, and as she kissed down his body and took him in her mouth, he gave a sigh and whispered _I love you_ as her heart ached and she sucked him harder, then she released him and climbed on top, riding him gently as she took hold of his hands and his gaze locked with hers.

“I love you so much, Oswald!”

“I love you too, Molly!”

Oswald thrust upward, closing his eyes as he hit his peak and throbbed inside her. He was still getting his breath back as he lay there recovering, putting an arm around her and holding her close as the booze didn't help his tired state as he slipped into a deep sleep.

He was still sleeping a little later, as the sun dipped lower in the sky and the heat of the day went off, and Molly slipped away from his arms...

She grabbed her clothing and hurried to the bathroom, taking a quick shower, then putting on her jeans and boots and a white vest, before adding a holster and throwing her leather jacket on top of it. She pushed her damp hair off her face and looked at her reflection in the partly steamed up mirror as green eyes burning with determination stared back at her.

“_There's no other way,”_ she said under her breath, then she left the bathroom, went back to the bedroom and drew her gun from the top of the wardrobe. She hadn't held it in her hands since the battle with Bane and she hoped she would not have to use it – but Selina had confirmed Ivy was dangerous, and she wasn't taking any chances... Molly paused to leave a folded note addressed to Oswald on the dressing table, then she made her way to the door and took a glance back at her husband, who she loved so deeply, and then she turned away and made for the stairs, not looking back and not wanting to think about what she had written in that note – she just hoped he would understand, eventually...

The sun was starting to mellow into a low sinking shade of amber as Molly reached the clinic. She buzzed the door and River let her in.

“What's this about, Molly?” River demanded.

“Is Julian in his room?”

“Of course he is!”

Molly walked up the corridor as River hurried to keep up as they headed for River's office.

“Is he lucid right now?”

“Yes, and very tired.”

They went into the office and Molly briefly glanced at the camera on the wall.

“I don't have much time to explain: I'm taking Julian away from here. I may have found someone who can help him.”  
River stared at her.

“You're taking him_ with_ you? Molly, he's potentially dangerous!”

“And I can handle that, River. Now, do you want to sit back and watch my Oswald make a terrible decision and destroy his life, or shall I take Julian away from here and get him the help that he needs?”

River's eyes were still wide.

“But I can't just...”

“This is what you're going to do,” Molly said, stepping closer, “You're going to make some coffee for us, and while you're gone, you're going to call up the security staff on the second floor and tell them to check the parking area at the front of the building, because you've seen an intruder trying to break into your car. While you're distracting them, I will take Julian and leave by the back way.”

River looked at her, processing all she had said, and then she slowly nodded.

“Okay. Then I can say I didn't know what happened.”

“Right,” Molly replied, “Because no one wants to see you fall out with your Dad. I love Oswald too, I don't want to be doing this, but he's left me no choice.”

“I know that,” River replied, “You'll need this to unlock his door. I'll take care of the rest.”

She placed the card on the table, then went out of the room and returned with a batch of preloaded syringes.

“Injectable sedation, in case he turns again – and he will, Molly. You'd better be sure you can handle this, it's so dangerous. You're taking a huge risk!”

“I can handle it,” Molly replied, “Now go, leave the rest to me.”

River nodded, then she left the room. Molly folded the packaged medication and slipped it into her pocket, then she grabbed the card and hurried to the elevator, taking it to the first floor.

Julian felt a soft thump as Molly set the bag down on the bed. He opened his eyes and looked up at her in surprise as she quickly unlocked his restraints.

“Come on, sweetheart, you're coming with me,” she said.

Julian sat up, blinking away tiredness. His arms were bruised with needle marks and his eyes looked glazed, but the fog in his head caused by the medication had been temporarily lifted as he realised what this meant.

“I'm free to go?”

“No,” Molly replied, taking jeans and a t shirt out of the bag, “I'm getting you out of here before Oswald forces you to have the surgery. I think there's another way. There might be someone who can help you, but she's far from the city.”

As he sat on the edge of the bed and grabbed his t shirt he swayed, feeling unsteady. Molly put a hand out to help him, and as her hand connected with his arm, her jacket shifted and he saw her holstered gun.

“You're busting me out of here?” he asked that question as he put on his t shirt, then he grabbed his jeans and as he stood up, Molly kept a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes, I am,” she replied, “Oswald doesn't know. No one knows yet... and we have to be quick.”

Julian put on his shoes, then swayed again as he reached for his laces.

“For fucks sake!” Molly exclaimed, then she dropped to her knees and tied his laces for him. As she got up again, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, still hazy and drugged as he looked up at her.

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

“Don't thank me yet,” Molly replied as she grabbed the bag and helped him up, keeping an arm round him as she led him to the door, “I won't relax until we're over the bridge... once we're out of the city, the cops can't do a damned thing.”

“You think Dad will call the cops?”

“I don't know,” Molly replied honestly, then she helped him to the open doorway, and he leaned against her as she ducked back inside, waiting for a nurse to cross the hall further up the corridor. Then she stepped out once more, pulling Julian with her.

“I'm so tired,” Julian whispered as he rested his head against her shoulder.

“You'd better not be falling asleep on me,” Molly said as she kept her arm around him and he stumbled beside her towards the fire escape, “We've got a flight of stairs to climb!”

Julian looked toward the door.

“Oh shit...I'm too doped up for stairs...”

“Fuckin' tell me about it!” Molly agreed as they crossed the corridor and slipped out of sight.

The stairs felt steep and bumpy and his view of the way down was misted as he leaned on Molly and she guided him down. Julian was fighting to stay awake as they left the building and she helped him over to the car and unlocked it, then opened up the passenger side as she paused to glance about. The way out was clear... She tossed his bag in the back and then pulled the cuffs from her pocket.

“Hold your hands out for me.”

“Molly, no, look at me...” Julian held his hands out to show her the marks on his wrists, then gave a yelp as she snapped the cuffs closed.

“_Get them off! It really hurts!”_

“Sorry love, I can't do that,” she told him, then she closed the door and went around to the drivers side and got in. She paused to put Julian's seat belt on, then she put on her own and started the engine and drove away from the clinic, on to the road that led through the city, knowing she wouldn't relax until they were over the Gotham bridge...

“Are we going home?” Julian's words sounded slurred as he asked that question, closing his eyes as the drugs in his body took over and he started to fall asleep.

“Hopefully, eventually,” she replied softly.

It was moving towards dusk now as the road ahead stretched onward, the drive was quiet and the air felt cool as they drove across the Gotham bridge. She glanced at Julian, he was sleeping now as the breeze from the open window ruffled his fair hair and he slept on heavily. The car passed the sign that said _You are now leaving the Independent City of Gotham_, and she breathed a relieved sigh as she crossed the boundary, there was a check point on the incoming side, but they never threw up such a precaution on the outgoing side unless there was a crisis...

They hit the open road, leaving the city far behind. The sky was darkening as dusk fell and Molly didn't look back, only ahead as the road went on. Trees lined either side of the road now and through the gaps, she saw fields. Many miles ahead was a small town, but it wasn't visible yet. Beyond that, was the countryside and further still lie the wilderness that stretched for miles. It would be a long journey, but at the end of it they would find Ivy Pepper, and maybe, a cure.

As she drove, Molly briefly thought about the note she had left for Oswald. He would probably sleep through the night and find it in the morning. The thought made her heart ache as she recalled the words she wrote:

_'My dear Oswald, please understand why I'm doing this. There is no other way. I'm saving you both. I'm doing this for love – Molly'_

She blinked away tears as she longed to turn back and reverse all of this, to wake next to Oswald and look into his eyes and tell him she loved him. But then she glanced at Julian, sleeping heavily with his hands cuffed, and she looked back to the road ahead. It stretched on for miles and all she could do was keep going, keep hope in her heart and remember the plan, because for Julian, it was the only hope he had left... Molly was sure she had never missed Oswald more than she did at this moment.

_But there was no going back._

_Molly drove on into the night..._


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Oswald woke to an empty bed. Molly's usual space beside him was vacant and as he ran his hand over the sheets, they felt cold. That was odd, they were usually warm. She usually got up first to go to Felix or because one of the other kids had woken early, or she was up and kissing him good morning as he looked up at her and she smiled down at him and then she insisted he stay in bed, especially when his leg was giving him trouble... But the kids were away with their grandparents. They were in Ireland now. Molly had no reason to get up early, unless she was making his tea and about to bring it upstairs any minute now. Yes, that must be where she was, in the kitchen...

_But the room felt odd. _

_Something was out of place..._

Oswald got up and put on his dressing gown, then he went to the bathroom. By the time he came out again, he expected to see Molly returned and the tray next to the bed.

_No tea, no Molly, either..._

Oswald wasn't limping too badly that morning, River's pain shot had done wonders. He had not taken the pills she had given him – they were stashed away in a locked drawer, just in case the pain flared again, and he could fall back on them instead of enduring the sting of a needle. He let her think he took them, but rarely ever resorted to pills when a stiff drink seemed like a better option, the one he had always fallen back on over the years when booze had proved to have great medicinal powers over pain. Molly probably thought he was drinking over Julian. She was partly right. But it had also helped to chase away the last of the pain in his leg that had nagged after the injection.

Oswald thought on these things while he got dressed, and a short while later, he left the bedroom leaning lightly on his cane and wearing a dark blue three piece suit, with his hair spiked, looking his usual elegant self.

The house sounded awfully quiet without the kids. And _very_ quiet considering Molly was in the house and was yet to say good morning to him...

Oswald went downstairs, and expected to find her in the kitchen – but she wasn't there. The garden was empty, too. He checked out the front and saw her car was gone.

_Molly had gone out early, this early? It was just gone seven am, where the hell would she have gone at this time in the morning without letting him know? It just wasn't like her to walk out the house without saying goodbye..._

It was instinct that led him back up the stairs, the sunlight bouncing off his highly polished shoes as he limped up there, then went back to the bedroom. He stood there in the open doorway, looking around the room... nothing seemed out of place, but instinct was telling him, there was something... He saw the wardrobe door ajar and looked inside. There was a gap at the bottom, an empty space...

_Where she kept her overnight bag._

_The bag was gone._

Oswald felt a flicker of alarm. He looked up, seeing the locked box where the gun was kept had been moved. He went over to the wardrobe and took down the box. He knew the gun was missing before he opened it, because it felt lighter. Oswald put the box back, his mind spinning with confusion:

_Molly had packed a bag and gone off before he woke, and taken her Desert Eagle with her? _

_Why the hell would she do that?_

And that was when he saw the note addressed _Oswald _and folded on the dressing table. He limped over to it and snatched it up, reading her message as a sense of anger and disbelief made his blood boil:

_'My dear Oswald, please understand why I'm doing this. There is no other way. I'm saving you both. I'm doing this for love – Molly'_

Oswald took in a slow breath as fury burned in his eyes and the paper crushed in his grip, then he let it fall to the table and drew his phone from his pocket. As he made a call, he waited as the phone rang without answer on the end of the line, as he breathed harder and his eyes blazed and his face flushed as he struggled to control his anger.

_That note had stated her intentions clearly. _

_He had not seen this coming._

_And he was starting to wonder exactly why Molly would go so far for Julian after he had behaved unforgivably... _

_She was doing this for love? _

_To save him, too? _

_What the hell did that mean?_

Jax Sterling picked up the call.

“Mister Penguin, sir - good morning!” he said warmly, “This is most unexpected, but it's good to hear from you. I hope all is well in my absence?”

Oswald gripped the phone harder as it shook in his hand.

“No it is not!” he hissed coldly as his tone matched the ice in his eyes, “It seems my wife has taken matters into her own hands regarding my decision over Julian's treatment. She is missing, I woke up this morning and she was gone! She's also armed. I already know before I make the call to River, that she will tell me Julian is also missing. I'm now wondering how much River knew about this... t_his betrayal!_”

“Mr Penguin, things may not be as they seem.... how do you know she left with Julian?”

Oswald was caught between tears of anger, heartbreak and both as he spoke again.

“She left me a note! She said she was doing this for love, to save me and Julian!”

“Mr Penguin - Oswald - please calm down,” Jax said in a reassuring tone, “I suggest you sit down and take a deep breath and allow me to look into this. It may not be as it seems. Perhaps she has gone off alone to resolve some other issue that you were not aware of, linked to your son.”

Oswald felt utterly confused.

“I can only see one course of action... she and Julian have fled the city.”

“Would you like me to call the clinic?” Jax offered.

“No,” Oswald replied, sitting down heavily on the chair at the dressing table as his gaze briefly fell on the crumpled note, “I will speak to the clinic and then my daughter and get back to you. But until I say otherwise, consider yourself called back to your duties as a matter of emergency. I apologise for this, you may take two more weeks leave when this matter is resolved – no, three... take three, Jax. I realise this is not fair on you or April, wanting to spend time with your new baby. But there_ is_ a crisis here.”

“I'll sit tight and wait for your call, sir,” Jax replied.

Oswald hung up. He took a deep breath and looked down at his phone, then called the clinic as he felt his temper rising again. He knew what they would say, he knew it before the call was answered:

_Julian was no longer on the premises..._

It didn't take five minutes for his fears to be confirmed. The nurse on the end of the phone was gone for a short while, then returned and said Julian Cobblepot was not in his room. Security were checking CCTV, and did he want to involve the GCPD?

“Yes,” Oswald replied in a hushed voice, as he considered his options and decided many were open to him, “I want the footage sent to James Gordon, I know him personally...”

He heard another apology, but it didn't mean a thing to him as he thought about River: _She must have known..._

River had woken early that morning after a night of little sleep as she thought about the situation. Eventually, she had woken Victor and told him everything, and now they had been up for several hours as she sat there in the front room of their apartment with the phone on the table, she was waiting for it to ring, she knew it would be her Dad...

“Do you think I'm an idiot, Victor? Do you think I've made a huge mistake?”

As she asked that question, Victor was drinking coffee as River's sat untouched and growing cold. He looked to his wife and shook his head.

“No River, you did the right thing. Penguin's not been himself since Julian lost his mind. He's not seeing the whole picture - and hating his son just makes it worse. How much did Molly tell you?”

River's gaze met his as she knew in her heart, as loyal as Victor was to Oswald, his job was now to run the Lounge. He wasn't his assassin any more, and the rest of his loyalties came under the title of _friend_, so she knew she could trust him not to say a word – not that she knew much any way, and she had deliberately kept it that way because it seemed best for all concerned...

“Molly came to see me last night. She said she knew of someone who could help Julian, and she had to get him out of the clinic right away. I don't know where she was going. She didn't tell me and I didn't ask, because the less I know, the better.”

The phone rang and the sound gave her a jolt. Caller display said _Dad_. It was still ringing. Victor picked it up.

“Hi Oswald, good morning! How are you -”

He paused and listened as Oswald spoke in a hushed, angry tone as he spelled out the facts.

“Julian's gone?” Victor said, glancing to River, “This is the first we've heard of it...River's right here, do you want to speak to her?”

“No!” River mouthed.

“Yes!” Victor mouthed back, and handed the phone to her.

“Dad...” River's voice trembled as he spoke in reply, “What... what's this about? Julian's gone?”

“Yes River, he was taken from the facility last night. And Molly is gone too. I woke this morning to find a note saying she was doing this for love!” he had spat those words in disgust, “_Why_ would my wife run off with a man who behaved so terribly towards her?”

River took a deep breath.

“Did you know, River?” Oswald demanded.

“No,” River said, feeling the weight of her lie, “Molly stopped by the clinic yesterday evening, she said she wanted to know how Julian was doing, she wanted to see his scan results... I said I'd make some coffee for us and when I got back, she was gone. I assumed maybe she decided to go home, but I did take a while, I was speaking with security out the front, someone tried to break into my car... They must have left by the back way.”

“If I find out you're lying to me, I will _never_ forgive you!” Oswald fumed.

River blinked away tears.

“I would never do anything to hurt you,” she told him honestly, “I love you, Dad.”

Oswald gave a sigh, his temper simmering down on hearing that.

“I love you too. If Molly gets in touch, let me know right away.”

“Yes, I'll do that, Dad,” she replied, and Oswald ended the call.

As River started to cry, Victor put his arm around her, holding her close.

“You did the right thing,” he reminded her, “Just because he's your Dad, it doesn't mean he always makes the right decisions. And I'm sure Molly knows what she's doing, she can handle this...”

“I hope so,” River said quietly as she thought of Molly and Julian, and wondered where they were...

Molly was standing the parking area looking to the door of their motel room as the sun rose higher and she made a call to Ireland.

“Molly!” her Dad said warmly as he answered, “I was trying to call home – the kids wanted to speak to you but the line was busy.”

Molly felt an ache deep in her heart. She could only wonder at Oswald's reaction to that note... but she didn't doubt fury came into it for certain.

“Dad, listen,” she said, “I've found a solution to Julian's problem – well, I _think _I have – I know of someone who might be able to help him... but I knew Oswald wouldn't allow it, so I left last night. _I left Oswald and ran off with Julian. We're miles from the city now._”

There was a shocked pause.

“You did what? You've run away with Julian? You're_ with_ him? Molly, are you having an affair? You need to think about this, love -”

“Dad, I'm _not_ having an affair! I busted Julian out of the clinic and took him away from the city.”  
“And where will you go?” Kane asked.

“I've heard of someone who might be able to help him. He doesn't have any other choice, Dad!”

Kane's tone dropped quiet as in the background, Molly heard her son and daughter laughing as her mother told them to come in from the garden because lunch was ready.

“Molly,” he said, “For fuck's sake, _think_ about what you're doing! He's Oswald Cobblepot, you can't just walk out on him and run off with his son! How do you think that looks to him? I know how it would look to some people – and he's still Penguin, he's still an underworld man! He could have you tracked down and have Julian killed for this!”

Molly felt a jolt as her Dad's words sunk in.

“But Oswald loves me.”

“He won't love you so much if he reads too much into this!”

“He would never hurt me, Dad!”

“And I never thought he would hurt Julian, but he wanted to have that scar tissue removed and leave him brain damaged for the rest of his life. Oswald is loyal to those who are loyal to him, Molly. If he thinks you're deceiving him, you might see a very different side. Not to mention the fact that you'll probably harm your marriage over this anyway, and you've got the kids to think of!”

Hurt registered in her eyes as she stood beside her car, looking to the doorway to be sure Julian was still inside sleeping.

“You're right, don't know what he will be like over this,” Molly agreed, “But he know I love him. He knows I care about Julian too – I love all our family and I would do anything for them! And Ozzie's not thinking straight at the moment, he's not over seeing Julian attack me. I couldn't wait for him to come to his senses, by then it might have been too late.”

“Where are you taking him?” Kane asked again.

“A healer...she works with plants, she's some kind of genius, she cured Selina's paralysis many years ago. I'm hoping she can do something to help Julian – if we can find her, and if she's not totally crazy. Don't worry about me, I can handle her. And Julian's cuffed at all times, I'm being very careful with him.”

“If you can't find this healer,” Kane said, “Take him back to the clinic, Molly! Let River keep an eye on him, and go home and sort this out with Oswald!”

Molly ran her fingers through her hair as she stood there, her heart aching for home as she wished everything was back to normal.

“It's okay, Dad. I know what I'm doing,” she promised, “Please don't worry. And if Oswald calls – and I think he will – just tell him I'm safe and Julian is safe and he's not to worry, everything is fine. I'm going to find Julian a cure and then I'm coming home.”

“Make sure you really are safe,” Kane reminded her.

“I'll speak again soon, Dad,” she replied, and then she ended the call.

Molly grabbed a bag containing sandwiches off the roof of the car, she had brought at a nearby store, it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing and she didn't want to linger around here – the nearest town was close by and she wanted to drive straight through it and keep going. They had only stopped here last night because she had got tired after driving past midnight and Julian had suffered a nose bleed and then threw up, she had seen the motel sign and pulled in and got them a room for the night. Julian had slept with one wrist cuffed to the bedpost as she slept on a couch on the other side of the room.

In the motel room, Julian's wrist was going numb as he woke up and blinked away sleep. His mind still felt slightly dull, the sedatives were not quite out of his system yet and he turned on to his side, grabbed the glass of water next to the bed and drank it down, but his mouth still felt dry, a legacy of all the meds his sister had pumped into his body.

“How do you feel this morning?” Molly asked as she closed the door behind her and set the food down on a table. Julian watched as she unpacked mineral water and sandwiches and gave a tired sigh.

“I can't face food. Just give me the water. And _please_ unlock the cuff, I need a piss!”

Molly went over to the bed and took the key from her pocket. He looked up at her, silently pleading. It was hard to know which Julian was asking to be set free. Then he spoke again.

“Please Molly , I don't want to pee myself!” he begged, “And I'm sweating, I need a shower, please, just let me get cleaned up! I won't hurt you, I'm me... there's nothing sick going through my mind, I swear on my life... on the leprechauns lives too! I _mean_ it!"

She looked into his eyes, thinking on what he had just said. _Yes, he was the Julian she knew and trusted_... She unlocked the cuff and he sat up, rubbing at his wrist. He said _Thanks_ under his breath, then got up unsteadily.

“Do you kneed some help in the bathroom?”

He shot her a look of alarm.

“You're _not _coming in the shower with me!” he said, and then he hurried over to the bathroom, bumped into the door frame, put a hand against the wall and took a breath, then straightened up and went inside, closing the door firmly behind him.

Molly wanted to hug him. He was the same sweet Julian who they had rescued from Ashecliffe, without a hint of a threat about him. But she knew that could change at any time, so she took a clean t shirt from his bag, placing jeans beside them and then placed his deodorant on the bed too. It was the best she could do, she knew he would struggle to get dressed, he was still clumsy from all the medication, but he really didn't want her help, and she didn't doubt if she insisted, he would feel very uncomfortable about that, knowing what he had done to her and what he could do again. Julian was a sensitive and decent guy and she didn't doubt he hated himself for attacking her, even though he knew he had no control at the time. She heard the water running in the bathroom.

“Are you okay in there?” she called out.

”Yes, I'm fine. Don't come in!” he called back.

Molly smiled on hearing that.

“You're safe, sweetheart - I won't come in!” she said, and then her phone rang and her smile faded.

She turned around, seeing the screen lit up showing a picture of her and Oswald. It was still ringing. She went over to the couch and picked up the phone, still looking at the screen as it rang. _Oswald was calling... _Molly blinked away tears. This had to be done. She couldn't avoid speaking to him just because he was feeling hurt at her leaving...

She took a deep breath and answered the call.

“Oswald?”  
There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“You have _no_ idea how much you have hurt me!” he said tearfully as anger crept into his tone, “I don't doubt you care for Julian, but you are my_ wife!_ You had no right to run off with him like that! If you come home now, we can brush this aside. Take Julian back to the clinic and come home. I still love you, Molly!”

She stood there holding the phone as in the next room, Julian was taking a shower and she could still hear the water running. Oswald had sounded so hurt, and so very angry...

“I love you too,” Molly said, keeping her voice strong as she blinked away tears, “But you are_ wrong_ about Julian! There is hope – and he wants to live! I think I know of someone who can help him.”

“Where are you?” he demanded.

“You don't need to know that,” Molly told him, “I'm sorry, love – but I know you're against this. I want to save Julian and I don't blame him for his actions any more than anyone else does! You're the only one who can't see why he attacked me! He's still our Julian! He's just very sick and desperate for help, Ozzie! I'm not returning with Julian until you see sense. I'm not concerned about you coming after me, or even hating me enough to hunt me down -”

“I would never...” Oswald's words were choked off by a shocked gasp,_ “Molly, I love you!”_

“And I love you, but I also love Julian, and he needs someone to fight for him! Oswald, even if he's cured at the end of this, I'm_ not _bringing him home in case there's still a threat – and I don't mean from Julian, I mean, he's a not coming home until I know _you're_ not a threat to _him!_”

Oswald took in a sharp breath.

“Return home, Molly! That's not a request! Have you forgotten we have children to consider?”

“The kids are in Ireland with my Dad for two weeks, they won't even know I'm gone! I spoke to Dad today and told him I was safe!”

“And what _else_ does he know?” he demanded.

“No more than you do. I love you, Oswald. I have to go now.”

She hung up the call as she wiped tears from her face. She had known this wouldn't easy, but she had never imagined to would be as hard as this, her heart felt broken.

Back in Gotham, Oswald had received a call from the clinic regarding the CCTV, then he had called Jim Gordon and asked him to come over because he wanted to report a violent man on the run with his wife. As Oswald had sat there alone waiting for Jim to arrive, he guessed it could do no harm to have a stab at using his connections and an old friend like Jim to get to the heart of the matter.

_Stabbing and hearts. He wished he hadn't put those two thoughts together._

_He felt like killing someone._

_But not his Molly, none of this was her fault. It couldn't happening. It seemed impossible that his wife would walk out, defy his wishes and do something as crazy as this..._

By the time Jim turned up, Oswald was ready to switch from tea to something stronger, but it was far too early and that would just look bad in front of Jim. He decided to resist the drinking until later in the day, he needed to keep his head clear. But the house felt so empty, it was too quiet here with the kids away and Molly gone and Iris left forever and Julian... He didn't want to think about Julian.

“Oswald,” Jim said as he was led into the front room, “What the hell is this about? Molly's on the run? As far as I'm aware, she hasn't committed a crime... and who is this violent, dangerous man you told me about?”

As he asked that, Jim took a seat and looked intently at Oswald, watching as he leaned hard on his cane, then on the arm rest of the chair as he sat down, looking pale and almost on the brink of panic. He had known Oswald more years than he could count. He had never seen the Penguin so frantic with worry. Oswald paused to gather his thoughts.

“Julian was subjected to inhuman experiments at Ashecliffe many years ago, against his will. It was the work of Shepard Lambrick...”

Jim listened as Oswald went on, explaining about the Tetch Two virus and how River had removed the scar tissue and repaired his ravaged mind with copy cells to write over the damage. He told him about the dormant tissue that had been left behind, and how Bane's attack had left him so badly hurt River had been forced to use a formula that accidentally reactivated the scar tissue.

“And he's changed,” Oswald said as he looked intently at Jim, “He attacked Molly! He tried to rape her!”

Jim stared at him in disbelief.

“And why was this not reported to the police?”

Oswald gave a heavy sigh.

“Molly said to handle it another way... to take him to River. She said it was incurable, that the scar tissue is replicating through all the pathways in his mind, turning him back into a dangerous person again... and she said eventually the tissue will take over and Julian will die.”

Jim's eyes filled with deep compassion.

“I'm so sorry, Oswald.”

He blinked, eyes blazing like pale blue fire as he glared at Jim.

“Sorry?” he said in anger, “For what,_ old friend?_ Sorry my wife was attacked - or are you expressing sympathy for that monster I call a son?”

“Oswald, you said he's sick. Clearly he had no control over his actions.”

“River kept him sedated. The only option to cure him is surgery to remove the tissue. Molly was against it.”

Jim paused for thought.

“So that would be a very large amount of tissue?”

“And it would leave Julian severely damaged, yes. But he's dangerous, and he attacked my wife!”

Jim saw such anger in Oswald's eyes, and he was also picking up on his sense of shock and outrage, mixed with deep confusion. Before he had left to come over here, he had called the clinic. And they had been very helpful. And he was sure what he said next wouldn't be well received by Oswald...

“The clinic sent me a copy of their security footage,” Jim said, and he got up and handed his phone to Oswald, who started to play the recording in stunned silence.

“As you can see, Molly is supporting Julian. She has her arm around him because he's sedated. They leave by the stairway and come out of the building and then go to the car... She pauses as he stumbles, I don't know if she's embracing him or if she's just reassuring him. But she's not a prisoner, Oswald. She wants to be there. And with no crime reported to the cops, I can't send my people off to hunt down your wife and son who, in the eyes of the law, have not committed any crime that we are aware of.”

“But he attacked her!”

Oswald stood up sharply, thrust the phone back into Jim's hands and glared at him.

“She left me a note! She said she was doing this for love. To save me and Julian! Molly has left me and -”

“_And run off with Julian,”_ Jim said quietly.

“Yes!” Oswald said, then he saw the look in Jim's eyes and his jaw briefly dropped, “_NO! _No, Jim – they are _not _having an affair!”

Jim looked at him sympathetically. He thought about how it looked from his point of view, husband calls the cops because his wife is missing, only to learn his spouse has actually left town with another man... Then something else hit him as he remembered the old days and just how far Oswald Cobblepot would go to come out on top in a dispute...

“I don't doubt Julian's condition is real,” he said as he rose from his seat and stepped closer to Oswald, “I know he's had a lot of problems over the years, and he's full of scars from old surgeries. That's true, I know because I saw it. I also know you very well and maybe, if the Penguin found out his wife was having an affair with his son, he might resort to pushing his daughter – or another surgeon – into operating on Julian to ensure his life was destroyed, anything to stop Julian from taking Molly away. Am I right, Oswald, because I really want to be wrong about this?”

Oswald's mouth dropped open as his eyes went wide.

“You.. you think I'd do that? Jim, you know me! I would never do something like that! I love my wife!”

“But you hate your son?”

“_I hate what he did to Molly!”_

Jim was struggling to see the facts. It was clear there had been a fight, or some kind of dispute, but he just didn't buy the story about Julian attacking Molly...

“I know Julian Cobblepot. I've seen him many times representing the underworld and he's a nice guy, he's a good guy – and I struggle to imagine him attacking anyone. I certainly can't see him trying to rape Molly. If he did, why the hell is she helping him to get away, Oswald? The Molly I know would have beat a man to a pulp and thrown his ass off the Gotham bridge if he attacked her. She's a MacQueen, she took on Bane and won! So tell me, why is she helping Julian if you claim he's dangerous - and why have they run off together?”

Oswald looked back at him in stunned silence. He really wished he had not called Jim, because everything Jim had just said had to be utterly wrong – but now, he was starting to wonder if Molly had run away to be with Julian...

“She's always been fond of him...” Oswald turned away and a bottle connected loudly with a glass as he poured a large drink and paused to take a sip to steady his nerves, “She's always hugged him a lot, she's always smiling when he's around... and she's protective towards him... But I didn't think they might be.. _No, they can't be_...”

Jim stepped closer to Oswald and laid a hand on his shoulder as Oswald turned and met his gaze with a devastated look in his eyes.

“They can't be having an affair behind my back!” Oswald insisted, “No, no... Molly wouldn't leave me and the kids...”

Jim resisted saying more. It still looked that way to him, but Oswald was shocked by everything that had happened and clearly needed time to come to terms with it all.

“I can't say for sure what's happened,” Jim replied, “But she wants to be with him. She's looking after him, Oswald! She's certainly not afraid of him. From what I saw of that CCTV, he was the one who was terrified, he just wanted to get away from the clinic. I just hope when they return – and they probably will because she's got the kids to think of – you accept whatever this situation is. Your son is dying. You might want to take that into account, and while we're on the subject, _don't_ think you can get away with forcing him into surgery that could destroy his life. If you try and force it, I will be coming back – and we won't be having a friendly conversation about anything, Oswald. I'll be charging you for conspiracy to plan a murder or at the least, a very serious assault on your son.”

There were tears in Oswald's eyes. Jim didn't know if they were down to grief or rage or both, but he did know the situation clearly wasn't as Oswald saw it.

“Where's Iris?” he asked.

“She left him,” Oswald replied, limping over to the darkened fireplace and then turning back to meet his gaze as he stood there leaning on his cane, “She couldn't get over what happened with Molly. She packed her bags and walked out.”

“And where are the kids?”

“They're in Ireland with Molly's parents for a short while, why?”

Jim nodded. It made sense to him that if Molly was leaving Oswald, she'd want to put her kids with her parents, far from Gotham while the dust settled. No matter how much they had been in love, if Molly was with Julian now, it didn't change the fact that her angry husband was the Penguin, and would want revenge – and where family was concerned, that would probably mean his first move would be to take the kids and try and deny her access. No wonder she had sent them all the way to Ireland, they couldn't be safer than with her father, powerful Irish kingpin Kane MacQueen...

“You said Julian tried to rape her? Did you see this happen?”

Oswald briefly closed his eyes, wishing he could block out that traumatising image as it played through his head, then he took a deep breath, his face growing pale as he met Jim's gaze again.

“I heard a struggle. I went upstairs, they were alone together in Cain's room. They had fallen off the bed and Julian had his pants down, Molly's clothing was dishevelled and her jeans were open... she saw me in the doorway and punched him and knocked him out.”

Jim slowly nodded.

“They were partly undressed upstairs alone, in your son's room and you walked in and found them like that?”

“_It is not how it seems!” _Oswald said angrily.

Jim shook his head.

“Oswald, I'm sorry, but it sounds to me like maybe you found out about the affair the same time he found out about his condition getting worse... maybe he was aggressive towards her, but that could have been because he was sick...maybe they got into a fight halfway through intimacy or maybe you found out about them and put a plan together and there was no struggle between them...”

Oswald's eyes were burning with fury as his face flushed.

“I AM NOT LYING TO YOU, JIM!” he yelled.

Jim took a deep breath, then held out his hand.

“Give me your phone. Let me call Molly.”

Oswald pushed the phone into his hand.

“Please do call her,” he said in an icy tone, “Tell her to return that lunatic to the clinic. He needs to be kept secure in isolation!”

Jim said no more as he called Molly's number. It rang for a short while and then she answered.

“Oswald, please try and understand -”

“This is Jim Gordon, GCPD.”

“Jim?” Molly sounded confused, “Why are you calling me on Oswald's phone? Is he okay?”

Jim looked at Oswald, who glared back at him as he spoke again.

“Yeah, he's fine. Are you okay, that's all I need to know?”

“I'm fine, thanks,” Molly replied, sounding tense, “I'm with Julian - and why, is none of your business as no crime has been committed, and Julian is very sick. He has about twelve months left. He didn't want to spend his last days at the clinic. He's with me now.”

“And that's all I need to know,” Jim replied, “Can I speak to him?”

There was a brief pause.

“Hello? Jim... why do you want to speak to me?”

Julian sounded nervous._ I would be too if I'd run off with Penguin's wife,_ Jim thought silently. Then he spoke gently, remembering Julian was was dying.

“How are you, Julian?” he asked.

“Tired,” Julian replied, “And I just got out the shower, I need to sit down and get dressed...”

“Where are you?” Jim asked.

“We left town....”

Just then, Molly spoke again.

“We're both fine, Jim. I'm taking good care of Julian. I won't let anything happen to him, he's in good hands – and he's where he wants to be.”

“Of course,” Jim replied, “And that's good enough for me. Take care, both of you.”

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Oswald.

“I'll be speaking to River about Julian's health and I'll be calling Kane to confirm the kids are in Ireland with him... but that's the end of it, Oswald. I hope you can accept that.”

“I called you for help!” Oswald said in dismay, “My wife needs to come home! What use are you, standing by and doing nothing! You call yourself a detective?”

Jim glared at him.

“_It's not my fault your marriage hit a wall!”_ he yelled, and as he saw a flicker of pain in Oswald's gaze, he simmered down, lowering his voice, “I'm going to let this go, I'm going to forget all about this plot of yours to ruin what life Julian has left to live - if you leave him and Molly alone. Or I'm back here and I'm taking you in and you'll be in Blackgate before the day is over, I won't warn you again, Oswald! Marriages break down all the time. My job is to enforce the law, not to mend broken hearts and I'm certainly not using my power as a cop to bring them home! I hope this situation gets better for all of you, I really do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have police work to attend to.”

Jim turned away and walked out of the room.

Oswald stood there seething with silent rage as the door closed and then he heard Jim's car start up. Then Oswald snatched up his phone and stabbed angrily at the screen, calling Jax Sterling.

“Jax,” he said as his General answered, “My mind is made up. I'm aware of the facts and there is only one course of action. As of now, you are back on duty. Please call Josh and tell him he's needed right away. I have a job for the two of you and it won't wait. My wife needs to be brought home and Julian must be placed back in the clinic. This urgent,” cold rage still burned in his gaze as he gripped the phone tightly. “Be here in one hour. _I want Molly and Julian found and returned to Gotham. Use force if necessary!_”

At the motel, Molly had put down the phone and blinked away tears.

“I don't know what he's playing at, trying to drag the cops into it,” she said, “Thankfully, they think nothing is going on – nothing illegal or strange, at least -” she paused, seeing a confused look on Julian's face as she stood there with his hair wet from the shower and wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist.

“The cops seem to think we're having an affair and we've run off together,” she added.

Julian's eyes widened in alarm.

“They think _what?_” he said in horror, “Oh no, I'm dead... Dad's going to have me killed for this!”

Molly put her hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

“We've done nothing, love – I'm just trying to take you to Ivy, if we can find her. Please stop worrying. Oswald will understand eventually. He has to, I know him well enough – he will see sense!”

Julian didn't feel drowsy any more, the shower had revived him, but now, he felt tears sting his eyes as he looked at Molly.

“Everyone hates me. You're the only one who wants to help me. Thank you, Molly! You're all I've got left!”

She hugged him as he gave a quiet sob.

“And I won't leave you, I promise!” she assured him, “It's going to be okay, sweetheart...”

And blood dripped from his nose, falling on to her shoulder, soaking through the fabric of her vest.

“_Let go... Molly, let go...”_

He had whispered it in panic as he felt the darkness filling up his mind and pushing him out.

“What did you say?” Molly pulled back, still holding him a protective embrace.

She gave a gasp. Julian's nose was bleeding and a wild fire was burning in his gaze as he started to smile.

“_You and me, far from home, in a motel room together...”_ he pulled her closer as he laughed, _“You must want me SO fucking bad, Molly!”_

His grip on her waist tightened as the look in his eyes turned stone cold. Molly felt a brief flicker of fear and then remembered she had handled this before. She glared at him as every muscle in her body tensed.

“Don't make me hurt, you, Julian,” she said darkly, “I really don't want to hurt you!”

He pulled her closer as she struggled. She only needed to rip out a syringe from the packaging and stick him with a needle to knock him out. But she could see it over his shoulder as they struggled, the sedatives were in her jacket - and her jacket was on the other side of the room...


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_This was awkward._ Jax and Josh both shared that thought, exchanging a glance that conveyed it as they stood there in their immaculate suits and their umbrella logo ties as Oswald paced the room and then stood beside the fireplace. Above it, a portrait of his late mother smiled down. Close by was a photo of Molly and Oswald smiling under a shower of confetti on their wedding day. On the other wall, was a picture of Luna and Cain and Felix in the garden. The picture of Oswald and Julian was on there wall behind them, with Oswald standing with his arm around the man he called a son. And right now, Oswald was the only one home, he had a drink on the table but left it untouched as he turned to his finest men and began to speak again:

“I don't care what it takes, Molly IS returning home! And I want Julian locked away back at the clinic until a surgeon can be found. If River drags her feet on the issue, I shall find one myself!”

It was Jax who spoke in reply first.

“Oswald – sir, we will need time to trace them before we bring them back. Do you have any clue where they might be?”

His eyes were like blue ice as he looked to his General.

“No, Jax. All I have been told is that Molly, when calling her Father, said they were far from Gotham. I've pulled in all contacts outside of the city and so far all I can assume is they have not caught a flight, there's no record of them flying, so we have to assume they are travelling by road.”

“What about a train, sir?” Josh suggested.

“I've already had the CCTV examined. They didn't leave by train, Josh.”

Josh paused for thought.

“Did Molly say anything unusual before she left?”

Oswald gave a heavy sigh, shaking his head as he recalled how she had drawn him into her arms and kissed him, then led him back to the bedroom and made love to him before disappearing. And then he thought back to an earlier conversation and his eyes widened as he looked sharply from Josh to Jax.

“_Ivy Pepper!”_

Josh felt a jolt inwardly as he hoped the guilt didn't show on his face. He had mentioned Ivy to Molly, and Molly had spoken to his wife...

Oswald carried on:

“Molly was asking me about Ivy... She was a brilliant creator of new breeds of plant life. She used to make potions from their sap, too... powerful potions. During the war, people called her the Witch...”

Suddenly the pieces had fallen into place. There was a flash of anger in Oswald's eyes.

“She's taken Julian to Ivy! It makes sense, he can't be cured with regular medicine, and no agent developed by Strange or by my daughter could be used on him again so... _Molly's taken him off in search of Poison Ivy!_”

Josh stood there looking back at Oswald, saying nothing. Selina had mentioned, Molly had stopped by, they had talked about Ivy. He had asked, _Do you think she might try and find her, could she cure Julian?_ And Selina had sadly given a shrug as she thought of her former close friend and said, _Maybe... _Oswald was too worked up to notice the look of guilt on his face as he looked to Jax and began to speak again.

“Ivy Pepper left the city many years ago after her plants spread and became a danger to life. The city had them burned. She took off and left Gotham, she's out somewhere East of the bridge, far out beyond the forests – where it gets dark and wild. She's out there, and Molly will find her, she's determined. I know Molly well enough to say when she sets her mind to something, she does it.”

He paused to limp closer to Jax and Josh, and then he spoke quietly.

“I am not certain of the ...circumstances... you will find them in. Absolute discretion is required – this means no disclosing anything to your spouses, close friends, colleagues or others.”

“Yes, Mr Penguin,” Jax replied, “That is fully understood.”

He looked at Josh. Josh looked back at him, unsure what he had meant by _circumstances_.

“Yes, sir,” he replied as he felt tension creep through his body and he wondered exactly what Selina knew.

“Before you leave,” Oswald added, “I would like you to talk to your wife, Josh. Ask her exactly what Molly said to her, and then tell me everything.”

Oswald glanced to Jax.

“You will both leave today. And again, I apologise for this, Jax. When the matter is resolved I will give you more than enough time at home with April and your new baby to make up for this interruption to your leave.”

“Thank you, sir, and please try not to worry,” Jax told him, “We will resolve this matter as quickly as we can.”

Then he turned around and walked off. Josh did the same, hurrying to catch up with Jax as they left the mansion together.

“What did he mean by circumstances?”

The larger man opened up the front door and left the mansion, closing it quietly behind Josh as he followed.

“Not now,” Jax said in a low voice, “Wait until we are in the car and away from the mansion, then I will explain...”

They were in the car, driving out the gates and on to the road as Jax spoke up again.

“Molly and Oswald have run off together. Yes, we know Julian is sick and Molly opposed the surgery – but Oswald knows she's desperate to save him, to do something like this. And there could be more than one reason for her actions. There's a possibility – according to Oswald – that they could be having an affair.”

As Jax kept his sights on the road, Josh glanced at him in surprise.

“No way! Molly loves Oswald! And Julian's very sick – and probably scared. “

“You don't think it's possible they could be together?” Jax asked.

Josh thought about it.

“I've been over to the mansion many times, same as you. And you're married to River's adopted daughter, you're part of the family – you must know what I mean when I say Oswald and Molly are deeply in love. Nothing would come between them, Jax.”

“But apparently it has,” Jax replied as he glanced at him then looked back to the road, “We can't say anything is impossible.”

“I'm not sure how I feel about Penguin's orders,” Josh admitted, “And you're family, yet he's expecting you to force them to come back?”

Jax glanced at him again.

“What does serving the Penguin require, Josh?”

“Absolute loyalty.”

Jax looked back to the road.

“Correct. And if he wants Molly and Julian back, they're coming back. If they resist, we use force. Molly will be cuffed in the back seat and Julian will be in the trunk.”

“While you drive and I watch Molly?” Josh asked, feeling uneasy, “She's the woman who took out Bane!”

“CCTV from the clinic showed Molly leaving with Julian and there was a noticeable bulge in the pocket of her jacket – I don't doubt River either gave her his meds, or she stole them. They'll be carrying sedatives. This will be easy.”

The car pulled up outside his house as Josh sat there feeling unsure about the whole thing.

“Just grab some essentials and I'll wait,” Jax said, “Then we'll stop off at my place while I do the same, and then we are leaving Gotham in search of Molly and Julian. Please speak to your wife about Molly's visit. Mr Penguin is waiting on your call.”

Jax had said that with such a tone of authority. Josh was still sitting there feeling concerned about dragging his wife into this mess.

“Jax, Molly and Julian are family to you! _How _can you go along with this? Julian is dying and you want to force him to come back to the city and go through surgery that will destroy any chance he has of a cure? I know Penguin is our boss, but do you really think he's made the right choice here?”

“No,” Jax replied, “I do _not _think he's made the right decision, Josh. I think he's still in shock over Julian attacking Molly. I can see it in his eyes. I've known him long enough to understand Mr Penguin can make bad decisions when he's not in a good place emotionally. That's why, after you've spoken to Selina, we are going to take our time finding them. That way, if there is a chance of a cure, we will be bringing them back under better circumstances and Oswald has a chance to mend his family. But you must never, _ever_ tell Oswald we didn't follow his orders exactly. Hopefully, Ivy Pepper will help him.... But I've heard she went crazy after the war, so this could be dangerous for all concerned. I have guns in the trunk to allow for that possibility. And when we do find them, whether he's cured or not, Julian and Molly_ will_ be returning to the city, because that's an order we can't defy.”

“I'll speak to Selina, I won't be long,” Josh replied, and then he got out of the car.

In the motel room, Julian was gripping Molly's arms tightly as he pulled her closer. She glared at him and gave him a final warning.

“You're not well, Julian! Don't make me hit you!”

There was a crazed look in his eyes as he dragged her closer.

“Stop playing game's, Molly! You know what I'm going to do!”

“Yeah, you're going to cry like a baby!” she said, and rammed her knee into his groin.

Julian let go and fell to his knees, then hit the carpet, giving a howl of pain. Molly dashed to the other side of the room, ripped the meds from her pocket and tore open the packaging and drew out a syringe. Julian was still in pain as he tried to sit up, he got to his knees and glared at her, making a grab for her as she came towards him. He reached around and grabbed at her ass, squeezing through the fabric of her jeans as he tried to pull her to the ground.

“No, I don't think so, love!” she said sharply, and stabbed the needle into his shoulder and injected quickly.

Julian gave a gasp and reached up, his hand covering the painful wound as a spot of blood leaked out, then his eyes rolled white and he hit the carpet with a thump. Molly stood over him and gave a heavy sigh. He was slumped naked on the floor, his towel had come off in the struggle, and blood was running from his nose again. She turned his head to ensure the blood wasn't a choking hazard, then she placed the towel under him to soak up the blood and ripped a blanket from the bed and covered him.

“That's right,” she muttered angrily, “You just lay there and bleed out, Julian. Delay us leaving for god knows how long... Shit, this is a fucking mess!”

She sat down on the bed, watching him sleep. The bleeding was slowing now. He was breathing slow and even. She didn't doubt when he woke he would know what had happened and be tearful all over again.

_But it wasn't his fault._

_She wasn't going to lose sight of that._

Molly reached for the sandwiches, leaving half for Julian in case he was hungry when he woke, then she sat there alone to have breakfast while he slept off the drug on the floor.

“_Yes Oswald, I did speak to Molly about Ivy. She was asking about her. I told her no more than you know, that she's out in wilds somewhere East of the city boundary. She's going to be hard to find - if that's where Molly went - and no, I don't know any more. I've told you everything...”_

As Selina had said that, Josh had returned from upstairs carrying a few hastily packed items in a bag. As the call ended, Selina put down the phone and turned to Josh with worry plain in her eyes.

“Josh, I don't want you to do this! Ivy could be dangerous.”

“I don't want to do this either,” he told her as they stood close in the hallway. The front door was open and Jax was waiting outside in the car with the engine running.

“I have to go,” Josh added, “Don't worry, Selina – if she's that hard to find, Molly won't be able to find her. I'm not happy about any of this, but I work for Penguin and so does Jax. It's difficult.”

Selina hugged him tightly.

“Just take your time finding them,” she whispered in his ear, “Give Julian a chance.”

Josh said nothing in reply as he smiled, then pulled her close and kissed her deeply.

“I love you. See you soon.”

Then he left the house. Selina stood at the front door, watching as Josh got into the car and then Jax drove them away.

“_Yeah,”_ she murmured as she made up her mind how this would be handled – there was no chance she would let Josh walk into Ivy's domain with only Jax for back up... _“You'll see me soon – sooner than you think!”_

Julian felt an ache deep in his shoulder as he opened his eyes. He knew he was on the floor naked and covered by a blanket, but he didn't know why.

Then it all flooded back and as he gave a sob Molly knelt down on the floor and drew him into her arms, cradling him as he wept.

“_I'm so sorry!”_ he sobbed as he looked up at her,_ “Molly, I couldn't stop it from happening! I tried to warn you!”_

“And that's a good thing,” Molly reminded him, “You know when it's about to happen. You_ can_ warn me... and from now on, I'm keeping one of those loaded needles with me at all times!”

“Did I hurt you?” he looked so broken and lost as he asked that question. Molly couldn't imagine how it felt, for him to be scared and unable to trust himself like this.

“No, sweetheart.”

“My balls hurt!”

“That's because I had to fight you off and I kneed you in the groin, I'm sorry,” she stroked his hair as a tear ran down his face, “Can you get up?”

“How long was I out?”

He still sounded shaken but his tears were stopping now.

“A couple of hours,” she said, “It's mid morning now. I don't think those shots River gave me are as strong as the stuff she gave you in the clinic, these are meant for emergency use only... and we don't have many of them! We should leave soon, we have to keep going, Julian.”

He sat up and felt mildly dizzy, then Molly took his hand, helping him to his feet. He staggered over to the bed, dragging the blanket with him to cover his naked body as he sat down heavily.

“I'll help you get dressed,” Molly said, and Julian was too weak to protest as she helped him. He knew there was no time to waste. He didn't doubt there would be a reaction from Oswald soon, no doubt he would send his men on their trail. Molly was right, they needed to keep moving...

An hour later, they were back on the road and the motel was far behind them. They drove through a small town and then headed out on a long, lonely stretch of road, passing houses dotted here and there. Eventually there were no more houses and the forest beckoned. Here the roads were smaller and winding. Molly reached a fork in the road and took a turning that would lead East. Now the fields either side of the road had been left behind as the forest grew more dense and she knew this road would lead in a loop back towards the city eventually, they had to get off the road and head into the wilderness, it was looming in the distance, marked with signs that said  _ Danger Ahead _ and  _ Keep Out _ . There was a low fence erected all along that stretch of the boundary, it was enough to deter the curious, but Molly was driving slowly now as sunlight spilled in through gaps in trees and thought about what she had seen on her phone when she had pulled up a map: 

According to modern maps, the wilderness did not exist. It simply wasn't there. According to the map, this road was a long, curved route close to the water that would swing around back into the city. The wilderness had been left out of the mapped area. But it had not always been that way, a paper map would surely show a different route... And she didn't have an old paper map...

She glanced to her passenger. Julian was resting peacefully against the softness of the seat, sleeping deeply due to the sedative that had caught up with him again. She watched as the summer breeze gently shifted his hair and blew soft on his sleeping face. Then Julian stirred, turning his head and shifting awkwardly in his seat as his balls ached and discomfort registered on his face.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly.

Julian sat up in his seat and blinked away tiredness then took in his surroundings. They were on a small road, trees were either side of it and up above, the sun bright in the blue cloudless sky.

“Are we there yet?” he asked, and sounded tired.

“Not yet, but I think we're close,” Molly replied as she carried on driving slowly.

“What are you looking for?” Julian asked.

“Something like... _that!_” Molly said.

She slowed the car to a halt beside a turning that led to a small lane, it was a dirt track, and looked as if no vehicles had passed down it for many years. But the car could get through, and it looked clear ahead, she didn't doubt boughs of trees would scrape the roof of the car as they made their way along the track, but it was a route that would lead them somewhere...

She got out of the car, grabbed the single, nailed board that had been placed there years ago to prevent access, and gave a tug. Rotting wood cracked and splintered and she tossed the board aside and got back in the car.

“I think we've just found our way in,” she said, and turned the car down the lane. It was a bumpy ride as low branches brushed and scraped the top of the car, and with every bump the car passed over, Julian felt it sharply in his bruised balls.

“_Please_ stop going over bumps in the road!”

“Sorry, Julian,” Molly said, “It's the only way in.”

“Are you sure this is the right way?”

Molly was looking ahead, driving carefully. The road was accessible, but here and there, dim patches and more darkness up ahead plunged to the curve of the road into shadow where it turned left.

“No, but it's a chance we have to take, it could be the right path,” she replied.

“I don't mind admitting this - I'm scared,” Julian said quietly, then they went over another bump and he gave a hiss of pain, “And if I ever really hurt you or you feel you've got no other choice, I would understand if you had to kill me, Molly.”

He was tearful as Molly glanced at him.

“That's not going to happen!” she said firmly, “I could never do that to you, Julian. I love you too much to let that happen!”

“_Molly...”_

She took the car past another dark shaded patch of road, briefly into sunlight and then turned the corner, passing through the darkness and out again before she looked back at Julian. Then she saw a soft, warm mix of fondness and gratitude in his eyes as he looked at her.

“I love you too,” he said quietly, “I can never thank you enough for what you're doing for me. I'll _never_ forget this.”

He reached out and she grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze.

“Neither will I,” she said, then she let go as she looked away, blinking back tears that had taken her by surprise. Then she focussed on their surroundings:

Here they had clearly entered a new area, there was a small lake and shrubbery and flowers grew wild. And the road ahead was blocked by a curtain of dark green vines that stretched all the way across the treeline as far as the eye could see...

“How do we get through that?” Julian said, “We're fucked, we can't go any further!” he took in a sharp breath as tears filled his eyes, “Maybe I should just accept it – there is no cure, we can't find Ivy and -”

“And I've _never_ seen vines like those before!” Molly told him, looking out the open window as she drove closer, watching the way they shivered and twisted, the ends of the vines had trailed the ground but now they were curling upward as if to reach out in curiosity... As they parted, she caught a brief glimpse behind them. The road ahead was clear...

“We can drive through it,” she said.

The car passed under the vines with ease. And suddenly the vines were wrapping around the vehicle as they began to lift off the ground.

“_What the fuck is going on?” _Julian yelled in panic, casting a terrified glance at Molly.

She closed the window as vines snaked in and the window chopped off the tendrils as outside, the whole thing screamed unearthly as it shuddered and the car shuddered with it. Molly reached for the keys and shut off the engine as more vines twisted, darkening the view beyond the car. They were slightly tilted at an angle, raised a short distance from the ground, and the vines still had them.. She reached down and ripped a blade from her boot. Julian stared at her as he clung to the seat.

“You could have used that thing on me!” he said in alarm.

“No love, just... no!” she assured him quickly.

Molly looked out at the sight of the vines as they moved organically. This plant was alive in the way an animal might move, it was unlike anything she had seen before. She was thinking, open the window, slash the vines, get the thing to drop them, Julian would scream because that impact on his bruised balls would be agony, but if the vines let go they could drive on quickly, into whatever else lurked beyond. But suddenly the car was being lowered again, carefully, through the vines to the other side. The vehicle was set down with a soft thump and the vines retracted quickly.

“It let us in?” Molly said in confusion, “Stay here, Julian -”

“_Don't go out there!”_

Julian looked terrified as he said that, and Molly wanted to reassure him, even if she was yet to understand what was happening. Julian had been through too much. He was close to breaking point.

“I'll be okay. Just stay in the car,” she said again, and she opened up the car door and got out, standing there on the dirt track. Up ahead was a narrow road leading through the wilderness, it was another, smaller dirt track. Here the trees seemed unusually bright in their shades of green and strange berries in many colours dotted wild shrubbery. Flowers drew in clusters, their odd bell shaped heads shook and nodded as they made a sound like tiny chimes.

“_What the fuck is this place...”_ she murmured. 

Then as she looked about she noticed something:

_No birds. _

_There were no birds in the trees. _

_It was just plant life around here... _

_Plant life like she had never seen before._

Then a small white butterfly flittered in from high above, floating down as wings danced on air, heading for the bell head of an orange flower. And the head of the flower jerked up, yawned open and closed its jaws, leaving nothing behind but half a tattered wing that was drifted off on a light breeze as it trapped the butterfly in its...  _ teeth? _

“Since when did plants have feckin' teeth?” Molly exclaimed.

“_Since I gave them teeth.”_

As those words were spoken in a low, seductive voice, Molly heard sharp cracks and snaps and looked back in horror to the vine curtain. Now it had turned thick and solid with long, pointed thorns, and had formed a barrier. It was impossible to leave the way they came in. They were trapped...

“Who the hell are you?” demanded the voice, and then, Molly could see her:

She stepped out of the shadows, seeming to materialise from the wood itself, she was curvaceous and wore a green dress that shimmered, it was short and her legs were bare and toned. Her dress skimmed her thighs and the cleavage plunged low. She looked to be naked beneath it, and the heels of her tight boots were high and pointed sharply. Her red hair hung to her waist and her lips shone crimson as she set too-bright emerald eyes on Molly and then looked to the open car door and saw Julian inside. He looked back at her with wide, frightened eyes.

“They call me the Witch,” she said, looking back to Molly, “And you must be really stupid to come here looking for me!”

“We came here for help, Ivy! Molly said sharply.

She raised an eyebrow as she looked back at her.

“You know my name... but most of the city knew of Poison Ivy before the war.”

“I'm Molly Cobblepot. Oswald's wife. I'm here because we need help.”

Ivy's eyes narrowed.

“You will be begging for help when I've finished with you!” she snapped angrily, “How dare you enter my domain!”

And she snapped her fingers. Vines shot along the ground, towards Molly and then into the car. Molly looked down in horror as the vines wrapped about her legs, then gave a sharp tug as she hit the ground. In the car Julian screamed as the vines wrapped around him, tearing his seatbelt in half and then dragging him out.

“_Molly help me!”_ he yelled, but Molly was being tugged at speed, as she reached for Julian's outstretched hand he was pulled one way as she was pulled another and the world around her became a blur of green as the vines dragged her off fast through the dirt, oblivious to her screams.

Josh and Jax had left Gotham City. They were on the long drive that would take them to a motel between here and the next town, and they had to stop off at both to ask questions. Josh was feeling a little better now, at least to know they were giving Molly and Julian time to seek help before forcing them to return home -  _ if _ Molly and Julian could be forced... Josh still didn't look forward to the idea of forcing Molly to do anything. He had seen her up against Bane. He didn't doubt this woman was strong enough to take on the Bat if she had to – it was a good thing Batman approved of Oswald running the underworld, because he kept things peaceful... Josh really didn't want to get into a fight with Molly Cobblepot...

They soon got answers at the motel. The man at the desk saw their fine suits and the umbrella emblems on their ties and when Jax mentioned Mr Penguin, he opened up his register and confirmed the people in the picture Jax had showed them had been through this way. They had rented a room for the night, and now they were gone, left before noon, he had added. Then he had looked to Josh and back at Jax as he said, _ I don't want any trouble from folk in Gotham City.. I know who Mr Penguin is. I've told you everything... _

Jax thanked him, and then said they would take a room overnight. The man's hand shook nervously as he handed him a set of keys.

“Thank you, sir,” Jax said politely and then they had left the office and made their way to a basic room with a single bed and a small bathroom through the doorway beyond.

“And this should stall us long enough for Molly and Julian to seek help,” Jax said as he closed the door behind them, “And Oswald won't expect us to pursue them in the wilderness, not in the dark. We resume our search in the morning.”

Josh sat down on a couch and thought about the phone call he had made to Oswald while they were on the road.

“The boss seemed happy enough that Selina spoke to him before we left,” he said, “And he's satisfied we are doing our best.”

“Just don't feel bad about it if we have to force Molly and Julian to return,” Jax reminded him, “We can stall for a little time, but we still have orders at the end of the day, don't forget that. “

“I know,” Josh replied, “I won't forget, Jax.”

Then Jax took out his phone and called Oswald to relay the information from the motel, and to let him know they were staying there overnight. By now the a colourful sunset streaked the skies. It would be growing dark soon. Josh was not looking forward to sunrise when it came around, not knowing what the next day held in store as they ventured deep into the wilderness...

Molly's head was mildly aching as she staggered to her feet and reached out, clutching at bars. She was in a small cell, so small it was more like a cage.  _ Ivy had put her in a fucking cage?  _

_Where was Julian? _

She gripped the bars tighter as her eyes sparked with anger, then she ran her fingers through her hair, brushing leaves from it before pausing to wipe blood from a scratch to her cheek.

“_You absolute fucking bitch!”_ Molly spat in anger as she glared at Ivy, who was stood on the other side of the room. 

This place looked old, the walls were stone, the floor was hard. There was no way out unless Ivy unlocked the barred door to the cell...

“No need to lose your temper,” Ivy said with the flicker of a smile as she walked over to her, hips swaying as her dress shimmered in shades of green, looking so transparent it was almost like a second skin. Her nipples were poking up visible through the fabric, her cleavage plunged deep and low and her breasts were round and firm. She looked beautiful and seductive, but her eyes were an unearthly shade of green, reminding Molly this woman was more than human. She seemed to be one with the plants, or they were one with her – a self made mother nature with definite hostility towards outsiders...

This was unlike any situation Molly had ever been in before. This wasn't like taking on Jeremiah or Bane. There was more to Ivy Pepper, she was superhuman and there was something about her eyes that told Molly she knew so much more than she said aloud... As if she could read every thought in her head. She didn't even know if she could take her on, but she would try – if she could get out of this cage...

“Don't waste time thinking about escape,” Ivy told her, standing there on the other side and looking in as Molly gripped at the bars and glared at her, “You've trespassed... But you say you're the Penguin's wife... and I do believe you.”

She slipped Molly's phone through the bars and Molly grabbed it.

“Don't bother calling for help,” Ivy added with a smile, “You won't get a signal out here. But I saw the pictures on your phone, your children and Penguin...and handsome Julian. But he's not his real son, is he... I sense that. Their bond is very strong, but he came into his life as an adult - a very damaged adult. I know he's sick. He's afraid of his own mind because of what was done to it in an asylum.. I saw all of this by touching him. They didn't call me the Witch for nothing. I can see deep into his thoughts, Molly. And yours...”

Ivy's hand darted through the bars and her fingertips touched softly to Molly's temple. Molly tried to pull away but it felt as if tiny barbs had crept in there, fixing Ivy's touch there rigidly as Molly gave a gasp and Ivy reached deep into her mind. 

“Oh Molly,” she said knowingly, “Don't worry about Julian... I have him in another room, he's resting. And my vines are not painful wrapped about his wrists, not like those restraints in the clinic...”

She paused, taking her fingertips away from Molly's temple as Molly gave a gasp, then Ivy stroked her cheek.

“You cried for him... You've cried for him _so_ many times... you have such a bond with Julian Lambrick.. such a _deep_ bond...And he's dying, Molly. He doesn't have much time to enjoy what might have been. But you love your husband too much to ever open up that door in your mind and let your thoughts wander to the possibility that maybe -”

“_Shut up!”_ Molly said in fury, _“Just shut your mouth, Ivy!”_

Ivy leaned closer to the bars, smiling as she parted crimson lips and dropped her voice to a whisper:

“_We all have an inner animal, Molly. Some call it spirit, others call it a reflection of our desires and how they shape us inside... That dream you had... We both know it's no mystery who the wolf is. You saw it when you woke up, you saw your own eyes. We both know the wolf is a she!”_

“_FUCK OFF!”_ Molly yelled, stepping back away from Ivy, as her jailer laughed softly.

“Gotta go,” Ivy said, her back hitting the wall as she began to fade through the brickwork, “Julian needs my.._. attention_...”

Then she was gone, vanished through the solid wall as Molly stared at it in horror, wondering what Ivy was and if there was a way to get out of here. And she had to find a way, because Ivy had Julian trapped...


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

“_You're not a Cobblepot, but you're pretty enough to be one. It gets so cold and lonely here sometimes and I really like you, I honestly do. I think you like me, I'm certainly seeing the signs... It's just a shame that you're so damaged. People are so cruel. People killed my plants, they were my family, my children! I'm surprised you don't hate the whole damned world for what was done to you. Let me see... parents died in a fire. You were then adopted by a cruel and insane billionaire who rejected you when he realised you were fragile emotionally after the death of your adopted mother. He couldn't handle your breakdown so he put you in Ashecliffe and let his scientists experiment on you. Then he didn't like the result when you came home, tainted with the Tech virus... So he sent you back there for five years of horror. And here you are now, after so much suffering, fighting an impossible fight to survive... Life is shitty. But people are far worse! I think it was fate that you showed up here. We're kindred spirits, Julian...”_

As Ivy said those words, Julian was looking up at her, making no attempt to struggle as warm, soft vines wrapped about his arms and legs, pinning him to the bed. This room had once been a comfortable bedroom with antique furniture. Now it had vines trailing the walls and creeping over the high ceiling. But not over the mirror fixed to it. He looked up and saw himself reflected, naked on a bed of soft red satin as she kept him pinned down with her vines.

She had stripped off his clothing and warmed some oil in her hands that smelled of something strange and exotic. Those hands of hers had worked sweet and wonderful magic on his cock as she had gently masturbated him, even his balls didn't feel bruised now. She had told him bruising was easy to lift out, and that all of her preparations had useful qualities. She said she could do many things, and he believed her. He had a raging hard on and just wanted her to keep her hand sliding up at down, gripping firmly as she pumped his cock.

“You like that a lot, don't you, Julian...” she said softly, “I know, you've been so frustrated. And I'm sorry I had to poke about inside your mind to get your life story. I know you're hurting. But doesn't this make you forget for a while?”

He was sweating lightly as he lay there, his fair hair damp as the satin sheet beneath him stuck to his back. _She was holding him on the edge and she knew it. She knew everything. She really was a witch, he was sure of it..._

“Make me come...”

Julian raised his head, watching as she worked her hand up and down his shaft, then gave another soft moan of bliss as she ignored his request, keeping him close to orgasm but denying him release as she kept her rhythm slow and steady. He rested against the pillow again as he breathed harder, never wanting this to end yet desperate for release. It was a sweet kind of torture and he was loving every single moment.

“Not yet,” she said, her eyes lowered to the sight of his rock solid cock as she knelt on the bed between his wide open legs. Her red hair fell forward, framing her face and brushing his thighs as her hand kept working on him.

“I like it like this...” her other hand ran gently across his smooth groin and he gasped, every nerve in his body was screaming for climax now.

“It's _so_ nice ...” Ivy said, stroking his groin again, admiring his bare flesh and his smooth balls, “I know you're submissive. I can tell because as soon as I restrained you and removed your clothing you got hard...Is that why you like to shave down there, Julian? I bet that girlfriend of yours, the one who left, she used to do it for you... your cock, your balls, all the way up to your ass... “

As she said that, she trailed fingertips over his balls, then stroked at his ass and smiled as he gave another gasp.

“Did she used to shave you?”

“Yes,” he said as his face flushed and his cock started to leak wet and shiny, “Yes, Ivy, she did...”

“And you like it like this?”

“Yes I do...”

Ivy's hand stopped moving. She didn't lose her grip on his erection, but as she looked into his eyes and recalled all she had learned from him when she had read his mind, a look of sadness came to her eyes.

“No wonder you're so afraid of what the scar tissue does to you. It's not just the violence and the horror – it's the opposite of who you really are. No true submissive could contemplate becoming forceful and aggressively dominant in any way, it would turn you off. And it makes you sick to know what you do when you change so violently. But you mustn't hate yourself. It's not your fault...”

She met his gaze as her bright green eyes shone warmly.

“I often change around formulas to introduce new agents when experimenting - if my plants are not growing the way I want them to, I can tell copy cells to stop talking to the original genus. I can tinker with that method and tell your copy cells to ignore the instructions carried by the rogue tissue.”

Her hand was still on his cock. His balls ached. But what she just said temporarily wiped that from his mind as he raised his head from the pillow as she sat there, one hand stroking his bare, shaved balls as the other gripped his erection.

“You can save me?”

“Not exactly,” she replied, “I can stop you becoming Julian the rapist. But we need to discuss that -”

“There's nothing to discuss -”

He caught his breath as her grip tightened on his balls.

“I said, I can stop you becoming the other Julian. But I _can't_ stop the rogue tissue taking over your mind. Same outcome, you won't live long. I'll need to work on a separate cure for that issue - and I can't promise anything.”

For Julian, after all he had been through, it was enough. It was hope, a way forward. A way back to some kind of normal life, even if it didn't last long.

“_Just do it! I'm desperate -”_

“We can talk later,” she said, pausing to suck on his cock as the sensation made him close his eyes and breathe harder, forcing him back into submission as he ached for release once more.

Ivy raised her head, then started to jerk him gently again as an oiled finger slid deep into his ass and he gave a groan as he thrust his hips upward and tensed against the restraints.

“That's it, just let it happen,” Ivy said softly, “I like your cock, Julian... it's so nice and firm.... and I know enough about you to give you

proper release... your mind needs to let go, too. Say it and I'll let you come.”

He looked up at her in alarm.

“_No!”_

She knew everything about him, too much, she knew his secrets and that scared him. She knew how he felt about someone who had always been there for him, someone he didn't dare think about because it wasn't allowed...

“Say her name...”

“_No, I can't!”_

Ivy poured more oil from a glass bottle and carefully rubbed it into the head of his cock as he gave a moan and ached sharply for release.

“This contains a powerful stimulant that will keep you on the brink of orgasm for days...I'm just trying to help you, Julian. Say it and you can have what you need...”

His cock was throbbing, his balls were tight and she was gently thrusting her finger in and out of his ass and he knew he should be coming, but it wasn't happening and now he just wanted to come before he lost his mind.

“Say it,” he saw her ruby painted lips move again as her hand worked on his cock_, “Say it!”_ she commanded.

He gave a sharp gasp.

“_Molly!”_

Her grip was firmer now and that final stoke as he whispered her name granted his wish. Julian threw his head back, giving a yell of helpless bliss as come pumped from his cock in sharp spurts, spattering his belly and running over Ivy's hand. She slid her hand to the base of his cock and jerked again in short, sharp movements and he cried out a second time as more come erupted. He felt like it would never stop. And then it did stop as he gave a whimper as the last of his semen ran down his shaft and felt warm and wet against his bare skin. With the last squeeze of his muscles fading out, she slid her finger from his ass and let go of his cock. It hit his thigh still partly hard with a wet slap of cock on to flesh meeting warm come, as he lay there panting and taken over by sheer exhaustion.

“Sleep now, Julian,” Ivy said.

He felt a soft kiss on his cheek. Her hair trailed his chest as she watched him, breathing hard as his eyes closed. She climbed off the bed. The vines that held him began to slide back as they let him go, but he had no plans on running from this place. Julian slept deeply as Ivy covered him with the satin sheets, then she left the room, deciding to go to her lab because she had work to do - she didn't doubt Julian wanted to take her up on her offer, but maybe he would change his mind when he knew the rest, because there was much he needed to think about before making his choice... But she would prepare the formula, just in case he wanted it.

At the clinic, River was getting worked up.

“Why did you come here?” she asked anxiously as she closed the office door and turned back towards Selina, “I've had the cops here! The _cops_, talking to _me _about Julian! I'm a doctor, I'm _not _a criminal!”

Selina paused for a moment, looking fondly at River, who stood there in a pinstripe suit wearing Oswald's monocle looking so much like a young version of her Dad, with a little Fish Mooney mixed in. She even spoke like Oswald. And right now, River felt out of her depth with the cops coming to the clinic asking questions. River had dedicated her life to medicine, anything outside of that was really not within her comfort zone at all. But before she left to try and find Josh, Selina had decided to call at the clinic, to speak to River about Julian.

“I know this is stressful for you,” she replied, “But Molly's left with Julian to try and find Ivy Pepper. And I need to know how sick Julian is, because Ivy is potentially dangerous and he could be at more risk that Molly if she gets nasty! Molly can fight back, if Julian can't, he's in serious danger – and Josh and Jax have been sent out to find them! I'm not going to sit at home while Josh walks into a situation like this one! I know Ivy, and I know what it did to her, when the city burned her plants. I'm afraid she's not the same person I used to know. So tell me, how vulnerable is Julian?”

River had thought on all she had said.

“For now, he's fine – the progression of the scar tissue is slow. But he gets moments when he changes and that's when he's a danger to others.”

“If he gets aggressive with Ivy, she'll kill him,” Selina said, “Thanks River, that's all I needed to know. And don't worry, no one will know we had this conversation. I have to go.”

She headed for the door dressed in her leathers and wearing her cats glove, ready for a fight.

“Wait!”

Selina turned back.

River grabbed her jacket and adjusted her monocle.

“I'm coming with you!”

Jax and Josh had wasted no time come sunrise. They had left the motel and gone on to the next town, making the stop short as Jax reminded Josh they had orders to carry out and could stall for time no longer. As they stopped the car after turning off on a remote country lane where a rotting board had recently been torn off to allow access, Jax got out, walking over to a place where the trees were spaced apart and sunlight fell in as he made a call to Oswald.

“Mr Penguin, sir – we've found a route that we believe is most likely to be the way Molly came... There barriers are untouched on the rest of the road, but here a boundary has been breached. I'm going to send you a copy of the route, signal's pretty low here so we may be out of range soon....”

“But you haven't found them yet?” Oswald sounded impatient.

“No, sir,” Jax replied, “But I'm pretty certain they came this way.”

“Send me the route. I'll catch up with you.”

“It's a long drive, sir -”

“I know that!” Oswald snapped, and he ended the call.

Jax sent him a copy of the map and just after sending, the signal on his phone blinked out.

“And now the phone signal has gone,” he remarked, turning back to the car. Josh had also got out, he was standing there leaning against the car with a worried look in his eyes.

“What did the boss say?”

“That he's going to follow this route and meet up with us... hopefully by then, we'll have found them. It can't be much further.”

“And then what, we force Molly and Julian to go back?”

“Yes, Josh,” Jax replied as he adjusted the leather glove that hid his metallic hand, “because we are here to serve Mr Penguin. Orders must be obeyed.”

Then he got back into the car and Josh did the same, but with a heavy heart. They drove off, over bumpy ground as heavy boughs of trees brushed the roof of the car.

“I really don't like the idea of taking on Molly,” Josh admitted.

Jax glanced at him.

“To be truthful, neither do I! But we have our orders and our loyalty is always to Mr Penguin.”

They turned a tight, dark corner and then drove past a small lake. As strange vines shifted against the breeze, both men stared at the sight.

“That's weird,” Josh said, “They're moving against the breeze...”

“I can see daylight on the other side, the roads clear,” Jax replied, and took the car through the curtain of green.

Vines trailed the car. And they kept on trailing as the vehicle jerked back, as they twisted quickly and darkly around it. The engine choked as the car began to rock. A window smashed with forced of it as the vines squeezed.

“_What the hell is this?”_ Jax raised his metallic arm and made a grab out of the shattered window as the car came to a standstill on the other side of the vines, he grabbed a handful and ripped at them as the plant screamed and the sound filled their air.

“_Jax!”_ Josh yelled in horror.

They looked to the passenger door just as it was torn off and hit the ground with a crash. Josh pulled his gun and fired off shots as Jax reached for his own weapon. Then the vines twisted around both men, choking off their screams as they tore them from the car and dragged them off through the forest at speed.

Back in Gotham, Oswald had limped to his car, then got in and sat there for a moment, pausing to look up at the house. Their family home was empty, the kids were away and Molly had run off with Julian. He had never felt so alone, yet he swore he had never felt the weight of his loaded gun as much as he did at this moment. He didn't know how to react when he found them. And he didn't want to think about how he felt about his adopted son right now. _It wasn't his fault._ That thought made his heart ache deeply as he blinked away tears:

_Maybe I should have handled this differently._

_No, I saw what he did to Molly._

He wanted to wake up and find this was all a bad dream. He didn't want to be driving away from his empty house, with an aching heart as he wondered what he would find out when he finally caught up with Jax and Josh. A few hours from now he would know the truth, he felt sure of it. And he didn't know why the thought of Molly and Julian being romantically involved didn't seem impossible.

His thoughts were scattered and bewildered:

_Molly wouldn't cheat on me. _

_Julian wouldn't betray me, either._

_Molly wouldn't sleep with Julian unless... _

_Unless what, I asked her to?_

_Oh, she would grab the chance with both hands... _

_Shut up, you're losing your grip on reality! _

Oswald's mind was spinning.

He took a deep breath, forced his doubts and fears and confusion to the back of his mind as he passed through the gateway and on to the open road, starting on a long drive, following the route Jax and Josh had taken.

As the door opened, light flooded in along with shades of green from the hallway beyond that spilled into the room as Molly got up from the floor and glared at her captor.

“I have company!” Ivy said angrily, “_More_ uninvited guests! Two gentlemen who came here armed. I don't doubt they're seeking you and Julian. They can have you back – but not him and _not _until I've finished with them! I rather like the look of them. It's just a shame bringing _people_ into my world always leads to trouble. I know anything good that comes of this won't last.”

“Oswald would have sent people looking for me,” Molly replied, “And he will send more! You need to let me go - and give Julian back, he's sick!”

“I know he is,” Ivy replied, “And I believe I can help him. I can certainly stop his personality changing. But whether he takes that help is up to him. There's a price to be paid for it and only he can decide. That's why you need to stay here.”

Molly grabbed at the bars as anger sparked in a gaze a shade darker than Ivy's unearthly green.

“_Stay here? Fucking stay here?”_ she rattled the bars in vain, _“He needs me!”_

Ivy stepped closer.

“And you need to stay away until he's made up his mind,” she told her, “I'm going to talk to him when he wakes. This isn't a choice you can make for him.”

“But he needs help!”

“And it's his life!” Ivy said sharply, “It's _not_ for you to decide!”

“What do you mean by that? What's to decide?” Molly demanded, but Ivy turned away and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“How are you feeling?” Ivy asked softly as she entered her bedroom.

Julian sat up slowly and as she adjusted the pillows, he sank back against them.

“I'm tired, but I'm okay,” he replied, “Listen, you have to let Molly go. And you need sedatives ready in case I change...I won't have much time to warn you if that happens.”

Ivy sat down on the bed and took hold of his hand. Her grip was warm and gentle as she looked into his eyes.

“Molly is safe. Two guys turned up with guns – Oswald's men. I'll deal with them later. Right now, I need to talk to you.”

“About what?” Julian asked.

“About my offer to stop your personality changes. I can do it, Julian – it's not without risk, but compared to what it would take to stop the tissue progression, I'd say it's worth taking the chance. But it's like this: I can make a tiny hole in your skull using a microscopic drill and flush the surface of your brain with a formula that will tell the rogue tissue to stop stop talking to the cells as it takes over. It's a very small hole and very small needle – quick recovery time - and it's definitely going to stop your personality changing. It means you can be yourself again and go home and not be a threat to anyone. But, it_ won't_ stop the progression of the rogue tissue, that will carry on spreading. And after I use the formula, it won't be slowly moving through the cells as it talks to them any more. Its progression will be _much_ faster.”

“But you said you can probably find a cure for that! I want to do this, I just want to be normal again!”

Ivy gripped his hand a little tighter.

“If I do this, I can stop you being a threat. But it _will _speed up the progression of the rogue tissue to a rapid pace. You'll get your life back, you won't have to fear changing any more – but instead of having a year left, you'll have much less time. _You'll have around six weeks to live_.”

Julian's eyes filled with tears as his hand trembled in Ivy's grip. Then he slowly nodded.

“Okay,” he said as he fought back tears, “That choice isn't so hard. I'd rather have six weeks of being me again, being normal, than a year of being crazy. At least I can go home, I won't be a threat to anyone. I won't hurt the people I love. I'd rather take six weeks of my old life than none at all.”

A tear ran down his face. Ivy leaned in and kissed his cheek.

“Give me a couple of hours and I'll have the lab ready,” she told him, “And after we've done this, I will start working on a way to wipe out the rogue tissue. I can't promise I'll find a cure in time, but I'll try.”

“Thank you,” he said quietly.

She swept her hand over his hair and her touch was soothing.

“Get some more rest,” she told him, “I have uninvited guests to speak with before I set up the lab.”

She left the room and closed the door. Julian wiped his eyes and then lay there trying not to cry as he thought about the price he would pay to regain his sanity. It would mean he didn't have a year left any more – but he would rather have six short weeks at home surrounded by those he loved, than twelve months restrained in a secure room at the clinic...

The vines were wrapped around their arms and legs, spreading them held suspended in what seemed to be a large greenhouse full of exotic looking plants, their species impossible to identify. Both men were scratched and their once immaculate suits were scuffed and torn. Josh woke first, feeling a surge of panic as he tugged at the vines and the plants held him firmly.

“Jax, _JAX!_” he said in alarm.

Jax gave no reply, he had been knocked out cold on the way in as they had been dragged through the wilderness. He hung there with his eyes closed, unaware of the situation.

And then a slithering sounded from below...

“_NO!” Josh_ yelled, fighting in vain against the bonds that held him as thorny brambles began to snake their way up his body.

The thorns dug into the fabric of his clothing, making an audible rip as material was torn from flesh. The vines kept hold of him, shifting about as the brambles did their work. He hung their in terror as his shredded clothing hit the ground, now he was spread naked hanging from those vines a short distance from the ground, and something else was moving, it was shifting through the leaves, and as something long and sticky licked up his leg and then moved higher as it caught the sweat dripping from his back, he heard a strange cracking sound. He turned his head to see a large, leafy plant with roots that extended upward, giving the thing height as it moved closer, it had a white flower head that had opened up and a long...._ tongue?_ That tongue had extended up his back, then it drew away and swiftly lunged forward to lashed his bare ass with a sharp slap.

“I see one of my creations is having fun,” Ivy said as she entered the green house and walked over to the two men, looking from Jax to Josh as a smile played about her lips, “That's a special favourite of mine... he thrives on fear and on sexual arousal, too. He can detect the scent given off by hormones very quickly and I swear he just grew a little bit more when he tasted you... He's good with his tongue, too,” she gave him a wink then ran a fingertip down his chest and tasted his sweat for herself.

“Yes, definitely fearful... so, why are you and your chubby, cute but unconscious friend here, with guns?”

The vines held him too tightly. Josh couldn't move. He couldn't close his legs and that tongue was heading for the crack of his ass...

“We were sent by Mr Penguin, to fetch Molly and Julian, to take them back home.”

“And no doubt harm me or my plants if I objected to them leaving?”

The tongue was sharp and pointed, and lubricated with something warm that made him open up as it lapped at his ass and then flickered about his entrance. He knew he was getting hard. His face flushed as Ivy stood eye level with his cock and watched as it started to rise. His whole body shook as the tongue invaded his ass, going deep as its tip flickered again. He cried out, shivering as his cock twitched.

“My plant likes you,” she said, “And this is great to watch... So, you were sent here to potentially kill my plants?”

“No!” he gave a gasp as the tongue shifted back and then in again, he was being slowly ass fucked by the longest tongue imaginable, and it was hard and firm and knew what it was doing....

“I just hope this thing doesn't eat _me_ after it's ate my ass!” he said as he looked down at her.

Ivy placed a hand on his erection, pressing her palm gently as she felt him tremble, then she drew her hand back, giving it a short, sharp slap that made his body shudder as the vines held him. The tongue slithered out and in again and Josh knew he couldn't hold on much longer. He had not asked for this, he had not wanted this, but damn, it was a fucking wonderful sensation...

“No Ivy, we were sent to find Julian and Molly. If we go missing, there's going to be worse trouble – Oswald's on his way!”

All trace of amusement that had been there on her face as she watched him mercilessly teased had vanished.

“Penguin's on his way here?”

“Of course he is! He wants his wife back!”

Her gaze hardened as she looked past him to the plant that was up on stretched roots as its tongue buried hard in his ass and Josh gave a cry as the vines held him tighter, preventing movement.

“Do what you like with them,” she said to her creation, “I have other matters to attend to,” then she paused, noticing the horny plant was taller now, “You've grown another six inches!” she exclaimed with a smile, then she left the room.

The weird plant-tongue was buried too far in his ass. Josh turned his head, saw Jax was still passed out cold. He had not planned on arriving here to be tied up by vines, stripped naked and forced to orgasm by a plant.

_But it was happening. _

_The tongue went deeper. _

He gave a sharp cry as come shot from his cock, hitting the ground below to pool in a white puddle in the dirt. His cock was still throbbing with the last gasp of his climax as the plant whipped the tongue from his ass and then roots creaked as it bent its head low and the tongue shot out again from within the flower head, as it caught a rope of come like a frog catching a fly, whipping the semen up from the ground and darting it quickly into its mouth. Then it shrank back, roots relaxing above the surface as it made a sucking, gurgling sound...

It grew another inch and its flower head closed up. Josh prayed it was sleeping. Then the thought also hit him that a part of him was praying it would wake again – that had been the best, freakiest, _ass experience_ of his life... but he was coming to his senses again. He was tied up and naked. Jax was still clothed, but he was also bound and unconscious... Just then Jax gave a groan and blinked, then he looked down at the bonds wrapped about his suit, heard Josh say his name and turned his head.

“What the...?”

“Don't ask!” Josh said, “We need to get out of here, she's crazy! She thinks we want to kill her plants!”

“You can't go anywhere like that!” Jax said, “You're naked and you have no weapons... but I have something the vines didn't expect...”

He began to struggle, flexing his metallic arm. The vines gripped tighter as he twisted, and pulled off the arm of his suit and the detachable robotic arm with it as the vines clung to it and he fought free and jumped to the ground.

“You can keep it, I have a spare at home!” he said, looking up at the vines as he brushed dust from his scuffed suit, “I can manage with one arm...” he drew his gun from its holster.

“I'll be back for you,” he said to Josh, and then he hurried to the door and found it unlocked and began to make his way down twisting, narrow routes that would eventually lead out of the vast greenhouse.

Behind him, Josh heard those roots creaking again and he felt a shock wave of pleasure deep in his ass as he anticipated more of the same. This was crazy, he was here to do his job, not to get tied up and satisfied by monster plants... but he was still held by those vines and he had no choice in the matter. He was also aware his ass was wet and open and what ever had been on the end of that tongue had kept it that way.

“_Oh god...”_ he whispered as its tongue slid in again,_ “Yes, fuck me!”_

He felt the flower head on his lower back as it tongue fucked him. That thing had grown bigger already. And the tongue was getting bigger too. He felt his ass stretch and gave a moan.

“_Not too much!” _he gasped, and the freaky plant continued to flicker its widening tongue in and out as he was held there, his cock hard again as he gave a moan. That tongue was getting_ far_ too wide. He gave a cry of bliss mixed with discomfort. He closed his eyes. His best bet was to come quickly so that thing would lick it up and have a mini sleep for a few moments. In that time, he would either have to find a way to break free of the vines, or the next fuck would be his last...

The tongue flickered deep and the stretching sensation was more than enough to tip him over the edge as he came again, crying out as more semen hit the ground below him. The tongue shot from his ass to the floor, catching it quick, then as it drew back, another drop fell from his cock and the tongue shot out, catching it. Then it drew back into the flower head and roots creaked as it gurgled and fell silent with petals closed.

Josh didn't have time to think about this.

Maybe they were poisonous, but it was a chance he had to take, because the alternative death wasn't something he wanted to think about. Josh turned his head, biting down on a vine that gripped his shoulder. The plant shuddered and screamed as his teeth bit through smooth vines and yellow, foul tasting sap flowed into his mouth. He grabbed at the loosened vines and tugged. As the plant screamed again, he was released and fell to the floor, landing with a thump to a dirt filled ground and a small patch of mud made by his own come. He scrambled to his feet, put on his shoes and made for the door, on the other side of it was a series of narrow, winding pathways. He didn't know which one led out of the greenhouse, but he took the nearest route and broke into a run.

Ivy was in the lab, and Julian was on the table covered by a sheet. The machinery was lined up above his head and she had told him not to look at it, because she had seen fear in his eyes.

“It's okay,” she said softly, “It will be over by the time you wake up. I have to monitor you for a while to make sure you don't have side effects, but if it goes well, you'll be recovering very soon and ready to go home. And I want you to go home, Julian. And don't worry about the rogue tissue, I'll start working on a cure as soon as you and Molly have left.”

She leaned over him. He looked a little confused as she kissed him, then she whispered_ sleep_ and he closed his eyes. Before she began the procedure, Ivy went over to a monitor and looked at the screen. As she spoke through the audio system, Molly stood up in her cell and looked about the room.

“I'm going to unlock the door now,” Ivy said into the microphone, “I'm in the lab with Julian - and you can't get in. He's having a treatment to stop the tissue talking to the copy cells. In other words, after this, assuming all goes well, he will wake up the same Julian you know and love and his other persona will be gone. But I don't yet have a cure for the spreading scar tissue. And once I do this procedure, it's going to vastly cut down his life expectancy. He'll be dead in six weeks without a cure. He wants to go home, he wants to be with his family, this is Julian's choice, please respect it.”

She saw Molly put a hand to her mouth as she stifled a sob. Ivy hit a button and the cell door opened, then she turned back to the table and the equipment placed above it as she looked down at Julian's sleeping face and then swept his hair back, exposing an old scar.

“I really hope you make it through this,” she said quietly, and then she turned on the machine.

For Oswald, the journey had been much quicker because he had not needed to stop off anywhere. He had followed the route, found his way to the curtain of vines and stopped the car just in front of it, then he got out, opened up the back door and lifted out a heavy umbrella gun. He turned to the vines with a smirk on his face.

“I know you too well, Ivy!” he said, and raised the gun, spraying the vines with a blue mist that made the plant shiver and shrink back as it began to wither.

“That was easy!” said Oswald, and then he put the gun in the front of the car, kept the window rolled down and started up the engine, driving through the parted vines down a lane that led towards what had once been a fine house, but was now covered by twisting ivy...

Selina and River were heading for the forest. It lay dark in the distance, and as River looked at it, she felt a flicker of unease.

“How do we know where to find them? They could be anywhere out here!”

“No,” Selina said quietly, her gaze still on the road ahead.

“What's that supposed to mean?”

Selina turned her head, sadness reflecting in her gaze as her heart ached for her lost friendship with Ivy Pepper.

“I can find her. I'm pretty sure I know where she is, because she told me before she left the city, she said there was a house deep in the forest and it was perfect for her plants...”

River's eyes widened.

“You knew all the long?”

“I spoke to her on the day she left the city. I begged her to stay, but she was heartbroken. Her plants were her life.”

“Is there anything else I don't know?” River demanded.

“Yes,” said Selina, “I'm very sure I can sort this situation out, and she will listen to me no matter how much she's changed since we last met – because we used to be lovers.”

Then she fell silent and they drove on, the car swallowing up the miles as far in the distance, the forest beckoned...

Molly had left the room where she had been held prisoner, only to wander a hallway where a vine bound grandfather clock chimed the hour, then as she heard someone pounding on the door, she ran to open it, knowing that rap of a cane against wood anywhere..   
_“Oswald!”_

As she said his name on opening the door, she looked tearfully at him as Oswald stood there fighting to keep his emotions in check. One look at Molly told him she had been in a struggle. And the rest could wait as he limped inside and closed the door behind him.

“Are you hurt?”

“No,” she replied, wiping a hand over the fresh scratch to her face, “We were dragged away by the vines. Ivy has Julian but she held me in a cell, she wouldn't let me speak to him. She said he's in the lab now, she can treat the personality problem and wipe it out – but it comes at a price.”

Oswald stood there stiffly, having regained his composure.

“What price?” he said quietly.

Molly took a deep breath. This was not going to be easy to explain, no matter how hard Oswald was trying to deny he cared for Julian...

“Ivy can stop his insanity. He will be the same Julian we know and love, but it won't stop the spread of the scar tissue. And the price of regaining his sanity means the tissue will spread a lot faster and leave him with six weeks to live. But Julian – _brave _Julian – decided to take that deal, because he wants to come home to us and know he's not a threat, he wants to spend his last days with his family!”

There was a flicker of panic in Oswald's eyes.

“No, he can't cut his life short -”

“Ivy said she can work on a cure for the tissue problem but she doesn't know if she can find it in time.”

Oswald felt his heart breaking as he turned away, blinking back tears as he struggled not to let his emotions come flooding out for fear of drowning in them.

“Well, he can't do this. We must stop him!”

“No, Oswald. It was his choice. He's having the procedure right now.”

Oswald leaned harder on his cane as he felt the impact of her words. The thought ran through his head that he had handled this the wrong way, that he had not cared enough or seen the truth of the matter, he had been blinded by his shock over the attack on Molly, it had made him numb to all else - and now he knew he was wrong. He drew in a shaken breath as he looked about the hallway, then he reached for a door knob and gave it a twist. It opened up into a study filled with vines that trailed the ceiling. And Oswald made his way over to a drinks cabinet, pouring a brandy into a glass as his hands shook.

_Trust Oswald to find the booze, _Molly thought silently.

Then he looked about the room and saw a speaker on the wall.

“Ivy?” he said loudly, “Where is Julian?”

There was a crackle and Ivy's voice came through at once.

“He's in the lab. You'll have to wait to see him. I'm in the middle of a dangerous procedure. Please be patient, Pengy. You can yell at me later.”

There was a click as audio shut off. Oswald limped to the window and turned back as he swallowed down the brandy.

“I guess we will just have to wait!” he said impatiently, and he limped over to a sofa and sat down as Molly sat beside him.

For a while, Oswald said nothing. He got up to refill his glass, then he sat down again, still in silence as he sipped from his glass and set it down. He suddenly looked to the clock and then spoke up and his voice sounded choked with emotion.

“He's been in there a very long time!”

He turned his face away as Molly looked at him, then his shoulders shook as he took in a sharp breath. Molly placed her hand on his arm.

“Oswald?” she said softly, “It's okay to cry...”

He turned back towards her, and now tears streaked his face.

“It's not his fault!”

“No, it's not,” she agreed softly.

“He had no control over what he did to you.”

“No, he didn't,” she agreed.

Oswald gave a sob.

“_I don't want him to die!”_

Molly wrapped her arms around him as Oswald wept hard.

“He won't die,” she said as she held him, “And when he wakes up, you can tell him how much you love him.”

“_I want to hold him!”_ he told her tearfully as he drew back, _“I want to tell him, I'm so sorry...What if he doesn't make it? What if I'm too late? I love him so much, Molly! I've been such an idiot!”_

Molly took hold of her husband's hand as she looked into his eyes, making a promise she hoped would not be broken.

“He will make it,” she assured him, “We just have to wait. He's going to be okay. Don't give up on him, don't lose hope.”

Oswald nodded as he clung to her hand and blinked away tears.

“Yes, you are right,” he agreed, “We can't give up on Julian, not now, or ever. He's going to pull through this procedure. And then he's coming home, forever.”

Molly said no more as they sat there as the minutes ticked by and she kept a firm grip on Oswald's hand as they waited, silently hoping the news would be good...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Bursting in naked to find his boss and his wife sitting together in worried silence as they waited on news for Julian was _not_ what Josh had planned to do, but it was what happened as he found his way out of the green house and made for a back way into the house. The door was open and he ran through, then up into the main hallway. He saw a door open and dashed inside and then as Oswald and Molly looked at him, he stared back at them as his jaw dropped. Oswald's eyes were wide. Molly blinked, and then she spoke up.

“Oh, there you are Josh. I see you've lost your clothes. You might want to put something on, there's all kinds of strange things growing around here and god knows where they might decide to poke you! Don't just stand there with your hands over your cock, cover yourself up!”

She grabbed a throw from the back of the sofa and tossed it to him. Josh caught it and wrapped it around his waist.

“Sorry Mr Penguin, sir!” he stammered, “It was the vines...I lost my clothing...”

“We are waiting on news of Julian,” Oswald replied in a sombre tone, “Where is Jax?”

“He got away... he had to leave his arm behind, but he got away before I did.”

“Then I don't doubt he will show up soon,” Oswald replied, “I take it you were captured passing through the vine trap?”

Josh stood there wrapped in the embroidered throw as he shot him a look of surprise.

“How did you know about that?”

“I've known Ivy for many years. I also know how to fend off her plants. I hit the curtain with a gas burst from an umbrella gun. It will be an easy journey out of here when the time is right.”

Just then the door opened again and Jax hurried in. His robotic arm was missing, and so was the sleeve of his jacket. He ran his fingers through his hair and brushed dust from his suit.

“I apologise for my appearance, Mr Penguin. We had a terrible fight with the vines...” he turned his head, staring at Josh, “Put something on! You are required to be dressed at all times in this job! The car is around the side of the house, you packed a spare suit – get changed!”

“Yes, sir,” Josh said, and hurried out of the room.

Jax turned back to Oswald.

“Is everyone safe? I see you have found your wife, but what of Julian?”

“He is currently having a risky treatment to stop his personality changes,” Oswald replied, “It seems as hostile as she is towards visitors these days, Ivy still wants to help. Mr Sterling, is the car damaged?”

“Window shattered and drivers door torn off, sir.”

“Then we can take my car,” Oswald replied, “I got in with no difficulty. Please join Josh and get yourself cleaned up. I'll let you know when we are ready to leave. We will _not_ be leaving without my son.”

“Are my orders the same?” Jax enquired carefully.

Oswald met his gaze. His voice trembled as he replied.

“No, Jax. Julian is no longer a threat. He is a part of my family and will be returning home, with me.”

Jax saw tears in his eyes.

“Yes, sir, understood.” he replied, and then he left the room.

_The time was crawling by. _

Oswald had lost count of how many times he had looked at the clock. The audio was still off. Ivy was clearly keeping everything under control, and as frustrating as that felt to be shut out like this, he knew it meant she was there in the lab, working on Julian, doing her best to keep his son alive...

“I didn't know what to think when you left with Julian,” Oswald said quietly as he sat beside Molly, “I even thought maybe the two of you had been having an affair...” he met her gaze, “I do know that you are faithful to me and I don't doubt if there was an attraction between the two of you, neither of you would act on it. I know these things, Molly.”

Her eyes widened.

“I'm not in love with him, Oswald!”

“I know that! But I have always detected a deep fondness between you... he's a young man, he's attractive, he's vulnerable and of course you could want to help him. You've always cared deeply for him. I know this, and I know it's nothing to worry about. I've got a lot of things very wrong lately and I'm sorry, but most of all, I'm sorry I failed Julian. I should have been more understanding, I know how long he's fought this! I just didn't expect it to come back!” his voice cracked as he stifled a sob.

“Of course I care about Julian – I love all our family!” Molly reminded him as she gave his hand a squeeze, “But Oswald, you've been in a very bad place over all this and I just want to know you've got everything in perspective now. You know it's not his fault, you're ready to be there for him - that's what matters, because he needs you now, more than ever.”

Oswald nodded, then he brushed a tear from his cheek and took a deep breath.

“I intend to make amends. Julian will know he is loved....” more tears filled his eyes, _“Our brave Julian, he's cutting his life short just so he can be with us again! Ivy won't find that cure in six weeks!”_

She saw a flash of panic in his eyes and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close again.

“Listen Oswald,” she said softly as she held him, “We have to take this one day at a time and just be there for him. And don't think for one minute he won't forgive you - because he will! All he's wanted is for you to be there for him and understand. And you're there now, okay? You're there for him, Ozzie.”

As she said that she drew back, wiped a tear from his cheek and ran her hand over his hair as he looked into her eyes.

“I will never fail him again!” Oswald vowed.

Then Ivy walked in. Oswald reached for his cane and got up stiffly as Molly rose from her seat, standing close to him as for a brief moment, Oswald's hand slipped into her grip and he hung on tightly as he asked the question he was afraid to voice aloud:

“How is Julian?” he said.

For a moment, Ivy said nothing as she stood there, her dress shimmering in almost living shades of sheer fabric that clung to her curvy body as she folded her arms, looking long and hard at Oswald.

“Hey Pengy,” she said, “Where's my warm greeting? No hug? It's been years!”

Oswald looked at her coldly.

“As grateful as I am for your help with Julian, you did imprison my wife and for some reason known only to you, two of my men were tied up by your vines – one lost his clothing and the other needs a mechanical arm returned!”

Ivy rolled her eyes.

“And the guys are out by the car and unharmed, Josh is getting changed and I told Jax he can go back and fetch his arm. The vines won't attack him again. They sense when I need their help.”

“And I apologise for sending armed men here but I was desperate to find Molly and Julian,” he reminded her, “Now tell me, Ivy, how is my son?”

Ivy unfolded her arms as her expression softened.

“He's in a deep sleep, when he wakes he will have a bad headache for a while, but it was successful. He's no longer a threat. But it came at a price. He doesn't have long left. I will try and find a cure but I don't know if I can find it in time. I'm sorry, this was the best I could do and he just wanted to be normal again.”

There was a flicker of pain in Oswald's eyes and then it was gone.

“Thank you,” he said, “I appreciate everything you've done. I would like to see him now.”

“He has to rest undisturbed for a while,” Ivy replied, “You just need to wait a little longer. But he's okay, it went well. He's safe to go home as soon as he feels ready. You don't have to worry about him switching personalities again, that's gone now and it's not coming back.”

Oswald gave a sigh of impatience.

“_I just want to see him, Ivy!”_

Ivy saw desperation in his eyes. She could feel such a swirl of emotions coming from him - including deep regret - and she knew far more than she cared to say aloud as she made her decision.

“Okay – but just you for now – as he's resting,” she replied, glancing to Molly, who nodded in agreement and sat down again.

“I'll wait here, Oswald. Go and see Julian,” she said, knowing he wouldn't rest until he was able to sit beside him until he woke. Then Ivy led the way out of the room as Oswald leaned on his cane and limped quickly after her.

As Ivy led the way far from the main hallway and down a long, shadowy corridor where the walls were bare and covered with vines, her voice echoed in the hollow space as she began to speak as Oswald walked beside her.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

Oswald stopped walking, turning sharply to her.

“No,” she said, sensing his rising, terrible fears for Julian, “It's not about Julian, this is about you.”

Oswald's pale gaze clouded with confusion.

“Me? What are you talking about, Ivy?”

She paused to unlock a heavy wooden door and went inside. Oswald followed, still feeling confused by her remark. She closed the door behind them and went over to a table on the other side of the room and drew a stopper from a bottle. Oswald watched as she poured a liquid shaded purple into a tall glass, and as the liquid settled, mist rose from its surface.

“Not all of my discoveries are of the scientific kind. Some are more..._mystical._”

She turned to him and held out the glass. He looked back at her with mistrust in his gaze.

“What is in that potion?”

She smiled enigmatically.

“You drink to solve your problems. But you've been trying to raise the wrong kind of spirit, Pengy. Not all we see through the bottom of a glass is an illusion. You've been trying so hard to see Julian as a son. But he's not your son. What happened recently was a real test of that. I don't doubt your love for him, but I'm not the one you should be discussing this with.”

Oswald stared at her.

“What are you trying to say, Ivy?”

“Just that you have a bond with Julian that is as deep as family – just not quite in the way you think. This potion is a gateway. I suggest you drink it. I won't let you see Julian until you do.”

She stepped back and faded out through the wall like a mirage. The door slammed shut and locked from the outside. Oswald looked at the smoking glass on the table as annoyance flashed in his gaze. It seemed she would have her way, but only because he was impatient to see Julian... He would just drink some of her mystic plant juice crap and tell her it didn't work. _Of course it wouldn't work. What the hell was a gateway? Mystic nonsense..._

He raised the glass, then took a cautious sip and put it down again. Then he blinked, feeling alarmed that the room had become misty... But it wasn't his eyes deceiving him. He reached out, feeling a cool fog damp on his fingertips. And then she stepped out from that mist and all he could do was stare at the sight of her in a lilac dress wearing a matching silk scarf. She didn't look like a ghost and as she reached for his hands, her touch was warm. Oswald gave a gasp.

“_Mother?”_

“Yes Oswald,” she said as she smiled and love shone in her gaze, “Yes, it really is me.”

“No,” Oswald shook his head, “No, this is a hallucination, Ivy put something in that drink and -”

“It is me!” Gertrud said firmly, “And I can not stay long,” then she smiled as she reached up, fondly touching the face of her son.

“My handsome boy!” she said, “I am so very proud of you! A wife and a family – and you run the underworld. You have been through so much in this often cruel life, you are a true survivor, Oswald. And what you did for your baby cousin is admirable. I wanted to adopt that little boy myself when I knew what kind of father Shepard was! But I was a poor single parent and you were little more than a boy yourself at the time – certainly, you were yet to work your way into Fish Mooney's company.”

Oswald's expression changed to one of surprise.

“You wanted to adopt Julian?”

“Yes,” Gertrud said, “But what chance would I have stood, against a powerful man like Shepard? But Julian was meant to come to you, Oswald. And you must understand this: You do not love him as a son! You did not raise him, he was your baby cousin by adoption. But if things had been different, he would have been raised by me. He would have been your brother. Your little brother. _And that is how you love him, Oswald. In your heart, he is your brother_.”

Oswald gripped her hand a little tighter. Everything she had just said made perfect sense.

“I tried to be a father to him. But it always felt different to how I think of my own children. It doesn't mean I love him any less - but I didn't support him through this crisis recently, because I failed him.”

“And you will mend that,” Gertrud assured him, “And you need to explain to him, you only forged those papers to make him your son in the eyes of the law to save him from Shepard after you rescued him from the asylum. You must think of Julian as your baby brother, Oswald. That is what he is to you, in your heart. And on the subject of love, _never_ be afraid to share your deepest desires with your wife. She only wants your happiness and she would never leave you!”

There was a flicker of alarm in his eyes.

“No, mother – I can't talk about such intimate matters with you.”

“You do not need to speak to me,” Gertrud said knowingly, “But soon, you will need to speak to Molly. Once a door has been opened you will not want to close it again. You still have discoveries to make – about _you_, Oswald. It will all make sense when the time is right.”

“How do I know this is real?” he demanded.

She let go of his hand, drew the scarf from her neck and gave it to him.

“I love you so much, my beautiful son,” she said warmly, and then as the mist wrapped around her she stepped into it and it faded out, and Gertrud was gone.

Oswald blinked away tears as he reached out, pushing his hand through thin air as the last trace of mist evaporated. Then he raised his other hand, a look of surprise coming to his face as he realised Mother had left her scarf behind. It was real, it carried her scent, and he knew it was hers because her initials were embroidered on the corner of it. The last time he had seen that scarf, she had been wearing it in the chapel in her coffin, hours before her funeral... He pressed the scarf to his face as he gave a quiet sob and inhaled her scent again.

“I love you too, Mother,” he whispered as he started to smile through his tears, hoping that where ever she was now, she could still hear him...

Then he looked sharply to the locked door, pushed the scarf in his pocket and limped over to the door, rapping on it sharply with his cane.

“Ivy, your point has been made! Now open this door!”

“Just a minute, Pengy!” she called back.

And she carried on speaking. Oswald pressed his ear to the door as her voice sounded faint and distant in another room:

“_I may have to go to the city – I need to help Julian find a cure and I need to see his medical notes and take a look at tissue samples, I can't do that here...” _she paused, _“I'm sure you will be just fine!”_ she said sharply, _“The Angiosperm Oralis – otherwise known as the Licker Plant – gets more than enough attention from you – the whole collection of Licker species know you very well! I'm sure you won't be lonely! I made a promise to Penguin, I said I'd help Julian. You can cope on your own...”_

Oswald listened as a vague reply came back, but he didn't catch it. Then he heard a door close heavily as the sound echoed down the hollow corridor, and foot falls sounded from a floor above. As Ivy descended steps and reached the ground floor, Oswald stepped back from the door.

“Hurry up, I want to see Julian!” he demanded.

The bolt slid back and Ivy opened the door. Oswald limped out.

“It seems you were telling the truth about a gateway,” he said, “I saw...” he reached into his pocket, fondly closing his hand about the silk scarf.

“Something precious,” he told her, saying no more, because he didn't want to share this with anyone. He wanted to keep that miraculous conversation locked away in his heart, a seemingly impossible moment, yet her scarf was in his pocket, he had proof of life after death... but that didn't ease his anxiety now...

“I need to see Julian,” he said again.

Ivy looked at him intently, and then she nodded.

“Yes, I believe you're ready now.” she replied, and she led him further up the corridor towards the lab. On the way he paused to look back, seeing a dim stairway part covered by vines.

“Who were you talking to just now?” he asked.

Ivy glanced at him and shrugged.

“I was talking to the plants, who else would I be talking to?” she replied, and then they went into the lab, and his curiosity melted away as he hurried to Julian's side, wanting to do no more than sit there and wait as long as it took to see him open his eyes again.

Far from the house, as they drove through the open curtain of dead vines, Selina's face paled as she glanced at River.

“Oh shit, someone killed a portion of the vine curtain. Ivy will be beyond pissed about that when she finds out... And I bet I know who did it.”

River blinked.

“My Dad?”

“Only the kind of gas that comes from an umbrella gun could wipe out one of her deadly vines,” Selina replied, “And I'm not exaggerating when I say she loves all of her plants, they are her people. Sometimes I used to wonder if she was more plant than person, there's this blurry place where she blends with them and they blend with her. She had more than fifty new species burned by the city after the war. She said she hated people because they had killed her loved ones. She calls the seedlings her children and the mature plants her kindred. Shit, Oswald will be in _so_ much trouble when she finds out about those vines!”

They followed the shady route around to a clearing, and then took the track that led up to the house.

“Josh and Jax!” Selina said as she smiled as relief lit up her gaze.

She parked the car beneath the shade of a tree, shut off the engine and got out as River followed. Selina was sneaking up cat like on Josh as he stood there straightening his tie after changing into a spare suit. He was talking as Jax listened and both men were unaware they were about to have company.

“I'm telling you!” Josh insisted, “That plant could move its roots. The more scared I was, the bigger it got. Then it was in my ass! It was in my ass and fucking me! I couldn't do a thing about it, and when I came, it shot its tongue out and grabbed it like a frog catching flies!”

Jax stared at him.

“I seriously advise you not to repeat that tale in any shape or form in front of Mr Penguin,” he replied, “And we don't say fucking, we say, copulating. Always remember you manners when you're wearing the uniform of Penguin's army. And straighten your tie. And you'd better comb your hair before we go back inside, too!”

“But it happened!” Josh insisted, it was fu – it was _copulating_ my ass hole!”

“Your _anus_,” Jax replied, “Watch the language, Josh!”

“Why? No one else can hear us -”

He stopped, turning around as he caught a look of alarm on the face of Jax, who had stared past him. Josh had come face to face with Selina, who stood there in her leathers, glaring at him as River stood a short distance away, feeling awkward as Selina launched into an angry rant.

“_What's this about your ass hole, Josh? A plant? You let a plant fuck you? I leave you alone for two days and you're fucking plants?”_

“It had a really long tongue!” Josh protested, “You'd love it, Selina! And the more it had sex with me, the bigger the tongue got -” he leaned closer, whispering in her ear, _“It stretched me a new ass. You'll lose your hand up there later!”_

She drew back with a surprised look on her face. Now there was a trace of a smile about her lips.

“_You'd best be prepared for that hole to be even bigger by the end of the day,”_ she murmured in his ear, _“That's your punishment for fucking a plant. I'll stretch you wide open!”_

Josh caught his breath as his face flushed and he felt the sharp stirrings of an erection. _Don't think about it,_ he said to himself, looking instead at Jax, and thinking about the rest of the day while he was here, working for Mr Penguin and trying to behave responsibly...

“We should go back inside now,” said Josh.

“No, we shall wait here,” Jax replied, “Penguin told us to wait at the car. And that is what we shall do. You can see your wife later,” he paused to smile politely at Selina as he grabbed at his metal arm covered by his suit and gave it a push, and an audible click was heard, “Sorry about this, Selina – but we are on duty. If you came to see Ivy, she's in the house with Molly and Oswald.”

“Thanks,” Selina replied, and she and River walked quickly towards the house as Selina looked back at Josh and mouthed the words, _“Your ass is mine!”_ then they went inside as Josh looked away with a smile on his face. His ass was aching for more already...

“What's so amusing _now?_” Jax demanded.

“Nothing,” Josh replied quickly.

Oswald had taken a seat next to the table in the middle of the lab and took hold of Julian's hand. Ivy had parted his hair, showing Oswald the tiny needle mark and the bruising that was coming up around it. He had been through a major procedure and barely had a scar to show for it, but he was still sleeping deeply. Ivy had reminded him that Julian was no longer dangerous, that his personality would not change again, and then she had put her hand on Oswald's shoulder as he pressed Julian's hand to his cheek and wept quietly.

“I will try and find a cure,” Ivy said to him, “But he's only got six weeks now and I may not have enough time to develop it. Just know that I will try, Oswald, I really will try to do this for him.”

“Thank you,” Oswald replied as he blinked away tears, then Ivy walked away, giving him time to speak to Julian alone, because she sensed he had much to say to him when he woke...

Selina had entered the front room and as she saw Molly, she had hurried over to her. While Molly told her what had happened with Julian, River listened. It came as a shock to learn that Julian had agreed to cut his life expectancy so sharply in order to stop his personality change, but she knew him well enough – Julian was a truly good guy, he would have been willing to give up anything, even the limited time he had left, to know he was no longer a potential rapist...

“I need to speak to Ivy,” said River, “If she wants to find a way to cure Julian, we need to work together.”

“That's a good idea,” Molly agreed.

Just then Ivy walked in and she stopped abruptly as she and Selina laid eyes on each other and for a moment, neither spoke a word.

“Ivy,” Selina said as she forced a brief smile, “It's been a long time.”

“Yes, I know,” Ivy agreed, “And we can talk later, Selina – I need to discuss Julian with his doctor.”

As she said that, she looked at River.

“Take me to you lab,” River told her, “We can't waste time. Show me how you stopped the personality changes.”

Ivy led her from the room, pausing to glance back at Selina, and then she was gone. Selina blinked away tears, feeling awkward as she shook her head.

“Look at me, making a fool of myself!” she said, “Molly, I have a life of my own, I'm married to Josh, why should I give a shit about someone who left my life years ago, who left me like I didn't matter any more to her?”

“Because we can't tell our hearts how to feel,” Molly replied, “Love isn't a simple thing, Selina. Sometimes it can be bloody complicated.”

Selina gave a sigh, then she thought of Josh and laughed softly.

“Ivy has a plant that licks. Josh let it _fuck_ him!”

“He let it do_ what?_” Molly exclaimed, as Selina giggled.

“I need to see this plant!” Selina said, “And I'm going to ask Ivy if she has one going spare... we could have a _lot _of fun at home with something like that!”

Molly laughed as she shook her head as they both enjoyed a brief respite from the seriousness of the situation at hand.

“That's up to you, Selina – I'd rather have my Oswald!”

As they walked up the dim corridor where vines grew and trailed across the ceiling high above, River slowed her pace as she spoke up.

“I must admit, while I was glad to hear you may be able to help Julian I was a little concerned - and sceptical - about your ability to understand medicine the way you understand plants. I've heard so much about you, but they used to call you the Witch? I find it hard to believe such unearthly powers exist.”

Ivy stopped walking. River stopped too, catching her breath as Ivy placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her gently up against the wall. Those emerald eyes held her entranced as Ivy placed soft fingertips on her temple as River felt a tug, and then she slid her hand down to her shoulder, leaning up close as she smiled, speaking in a lowered tone:

“Don't doubt my powers, River. I just read _all_ your little secrets in a split second...”

River laughed.

“You can pull those stunts on the naive, but it won't work on me, Miss Pepper!”

Ivy licked her lips as she began to speak in a low, seductive tone:

“I wont drag up your childhood or what a lousy mother Fish was. Or how your heart ached to trace your father, that umbrella boy called Oswald... I don't want to bring up any memories so emotive to you, as we are going to work together, and I don't want to jeopardise that... So let's give you some_ other_ proof...” She paused to give a sensual sigh, then continued:

“You have some very explicit fantasies, River. Especially the bisexual ones. Your husband_ loves_ to hear all about it, doesn't he.... _Like the one about a certain blonde, curvy woman who comes to your office just before you're about to lock up and go home. She tells you, I'm having trouble reaching orgasm, Doctor Mooney... and you take her through to the examination room... fast forward a few minutes and she's on the couch with her legs spread and your lubed, gloved fingers are separating the folds of her pussy like it's a precious flower... Then as you rub brutally at her clit and she's in the middle of a loud and helpless orgasm, you stand there calmly and dominantly attending to her as you say, Sometimes it takes an expert to give you what you really need..._”

River gave a gasp as her face heated up flushed.

“Stop... you have no right -”

Ivy smiled as she continued, “And you tell Victor these fantasies in bed... he jacks off over it! Which is just fine, but River, that fantasy about your hot patient.._. Beth Crane? Really? Your father's ex mistress_?”

River glared at her as she poked Ivy's shoulder and Ivy stepped back.

“Keep your..._ witch powers _out of my sexual fantasies and _out_ of my marriage!”

Ivy still had a smile on her face.

“It was just a demonstration of what I can do,” she replied, “I meant no harm by it.”

River adjusted her monocle.

“So don't do it again!” she said sharply, “Now, take me to the lab. I need to see how you carried out the procedure on Julian, and then we need to talk about working on finding a cure for him.”

“Of course,” Ivy replied, and she led the way towards the door of the lab. 

Oswald didn't notice as Ivy and River walked in and went over to the other side of the laboratory and started to talk quietly as Ivy showed her images of Julian's treatment. He didn't care about anything but the fact that Julian had just opened his eyes. Then his heart had filled with joy and relief as he smiled down at him, fighting back tears. The knowledge that his mother's scarf was in his pocket seemed to lend him strength as he started to speak, as if she was an angel with a hand on his shoulder as he opened his heart to Julian.

“I am so very sorry, Julian!” he said as he looked into his eyes, “I made a terrible mistake. I never should have blamed you, I was wrong – you couldn't control this! And you've made such a huge sacrifice to regain your sanity, a terrible sacrifice, you have six weeks left unless Ivy can find a cure....You have more courage than you will ever know!” a tear ran down Oswald's face as Julian gave his hand a squeeze.

“It's okay, Dad, I love you, I understand,” he said, and sounded weak.

Oswald drew a deep breath, keeping hold of his hand as he spoke again.

“I think I should say this now: I'm not your Dad. I don't deserve to be your Dad, Julian. I didn't raise you, and I certainly didn't behave like a father when you fell ill. But I do love you. And I think perhaps we should have been brothers, what do you think about that?”

Julian smiled.

“You're the right age to be my big brother. I know I'm only your son on paper and you forged that to get rid of Shepard a few years back, to keep me out of the asylum... but I love you too, Oswald. We have a bond, and it feels like family.”

“It does,” Oswald agreed, “And I can't apologise enough, my behaviour over what happened was unforgivable.”

“Stop...” Julian squeezed his hand once more, “There's nothing to forgive,” he promised him, “It's okay.”

He raised his arm and reached for Oswald, pulling him in for a hug as Oswald stifled a sob and said sorry again, and then Oswald kept hold of his hand as he talked some more as Julian rested, telling him about River and Ivy working together to find him a cure. 

On the other side of the lab, as she studied the images of Julian's scans and treatment as it progressed, River was forming an idea. She turned to Ivy and shared her thoughts.

“I use those micro drills and needles in procedures on my patients... and I'm thinking, maybe there's a way to make a small pathway to the base of the scar tissue and eradicate it – with the right kind of formula.”

Ivy looked at the scans again.

“No,” she said, “No, you've got it the wrong way around...” her finger traced a path over one of many dark tendrils that snaked up to the surface of his brain as she looked at the scan image.

“We don't need to attack it at the source... you see all those little pathways that rise up to the surface of the brain? That's where we hit them...”

River looked doubtfully at her.

“All of them at once, at the surface?”

“I can put something together that will travel downwards, wiping out the rogue tissue as it progresses... ending up in the mass of scar tissue, where it can eradicate it, but that would mean a micro drill and injectable needle lined up with every single one of these pathways, then we drill through the skull and inject every single one of them at the same time.”

“And he has more than seventy of them,” River said, keeping her voice low, “Seventy holes and seventy needles to the surface of the brain. Then assuming it works, the copy cells have to rebuild and fire up the cleaned out pathways.”

“There's going to be brain damage but it won't be catastrophic,” Ivy replied, “But a lot of lost function will come back as the pathways rebuild. And it's the only way to go with the cells already in there capable of regenerating.”

River glanced back at Julian. He was still resting on the table as Oswald sat beside him. She turned back to Ivy.

“And there's the risk factor to consider. We could lose him during the procedure. Seventy plus needles into the brain surface at the same time, pumping in a formula to wipe out the enemy is very risky.”

“But it's all we've got – assuming I can work with your meds and find something of mine that's compatible to kill the rogue cells.”

“Do we have enough time to build a formula?” River asked quietly.

“I can't be certain of anything,” Ivy replied, “But we have six weeks and I'm going to try for it.”

“Then we have hope,” River replied, and as she turned to Ivy she held out her hand. Ivy shook it, cementing the agreement. They were going to save Julian together...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

As dusk fell, two cars left the ivy-covered house in the woods. Selina drove her own car, with Ivy, Jax and Josh as passengers. Oswald drove the other car, with Molly beside him as River stayed in the back to keep an eye on Julian, who was resting across the back seat. He had been fine until he had tried to sit up in the lab, and then he had experienced terrible pain, a side effect that Ivy said would last at least twelve hours. River had hurried to fetch her bag, and then given him a shot of morphine. Now he was sleeping deeply, and Molly was glad of that as they passed through the stretch of bumpy dirt road. She glanced in the back top see him sleeping, oblivious to the rough journey. As she turned back to face the front, Oswald looked back at the road as he spoke up.

“He will be fine, when he wakes, he will be at home in his own bed. Safe and sound, at home with us. Where he needs to be.”

In the other car, there was a stony silence. That silence had begun when they had passed through the curtain of dead vines.

“Oswald...” Ivy had said as anger reflected in her gaze, “_How_ could you do that to my kindred?”

“He probably had no other choice,” Selina said quickly, “You're the one who set a potential deathtrap out there.”

“To keep trouble away!” Ivy said defensively.

Selina said no more, watching the road as she and Josh exchanged a glance. Clearly, Ivy would not let go of the death of those vines any time soon...

Once they hit the open road, Selina spoke up again.

“We'll go straight home, Ivy. I'm glad you decided to stay with me and Josh while you work with River at the clinic.”

Ivy's eyes reflected coldness. She was still thinking about the death of her vines.

“No,” she said, “We won't go straight back to your place, Selina. I want to speak to Oswald – this won't wait!”

Jax was in the back with Ivy, and he turned to her and spoke in a lowered tone:

“Miss Pepper, while you feel angered by the loss of your vines, these matters must be put aside for now – you and River are united in the task to save Julian's life. That must come first above all else. He doesn't have long and he is depending on you.”

Ivy looked away, watching as darkened fields rolled by as twilight fell.

“Believe me, Jax, I'm only doing this to save Julian. Otherwise I never would have returned to Gotham. And when my task is done, I will be leaving. I have no wish to stay around in the city. And don't talk to me like I have a heart of stone, like I'm the crazy witch who only gives a shit about her plants - I do love my plants, but I also know how it feels to save a human life.”

Jax looked at her.

“Who did you save?”

“None of your business,” she murmured, and she kept her gaze on the darkening countryside.

The landscape was changing now, houses were starting to dot the route. Soon the would pass through a small town, and then they would be on their way back towards the road that would eventually lead to the Gotham bridge. Ivy's heart felt heavy at the thought of returning – but it wasn't forever. She would be returning to her plants soon enough, and she clung to that thought, along with the fact that someone _else_ would also miss her back at the house – someone she had not mentioned to the others...

It was almost midnight when Oswald drove the car through the gateway of the mansion and pulled up outside the house. He shut off the engine and exchanged a glance with Molly. She saw relief in his gaze as he briefly gave her hand a squeeze.

“I have never been so glad to be home! I just want to know Julian is warm in his bed tonight, safe at home with us.”

As he and Molly got out of the car, River opened up her door and got out, then she leaned over Julian, stroking his face and saying his name softly. Julian slowly opened his eyes, then closed them again as he said he wanted to sleep, and his words were slurred.

“He's still heavily medicated,” River said, “He should be feeling a lot better in the morning. I'll stay tonight, to keep an eye on him.”

Then she stepped away from the car and drew out her phone to call Victor. Just then Selina's car pulled up on the driveway. River walked closer to the house as Victor answered the call, and she started to tell her husband all that had happened.

In the car, Selina looked back at Ivy and glared at her.

“I'm _not_ happy about this, Ivy! Think about what they've been through today!”

I think we should go home – and you should definitely not upset Oswald, not today!”

“You never did understand how much I love my plants!” Ivy said bitterly.

Jax glanced at Josh.

“Perhaps while we are here, we should help out, take Julian into the house for Mr Penguin?”

Josh nodded and they both got out of the car and headed over to Oswald's vehicle.

“Please don't do this,” said Selina.

Ivy said nothing as Selina turned her head, looking into green eyes that reflected deep hurt and anger.

“Don't, Ivy! Please, for me?”

“Why for you?” Ivy demanded.

“Because I care about that family and they have been through _so _much shit today! Oswald and Molly have been so worried about Julian. And they still don't know if he's going to live beyond the next six weeks! If you want to tell Oswald what you think about him killing your vines, at least wait until poor Julian – who is nothing to do with your grudge – is on the road to recovery! And if you ever cared about me – which I sometimes doubt – you would do that for me. You would say _nothing _tonight.”

Ivy stared at her.

“You really think I never cared for you?”

Selina blinked away tears.

“I don't know, Ivy. You didn't think about me when you left the city. You just walked away...”

Ivy looked out the window. From where she sat in the car, she could see the other vehicle, Jax and Josh had taken Julian into the house and Molly and River had gone with them. Oswald had just closed the car door and stood there leaning on his cane, looking towards the mansion where the front door was open and now lights were glowing warmly from within.

“Sorry Selina, this won't wait!” she said.

“_Ivy!”_

She got out of the car, ignoring Selina as she called her name again, and marched up to Oswald, grabbing his shoulder as he spun sharply towards her with a bewildered look on his face.

“_My vines!”_ she said as hurt reflected in her eyes, “You used _gas_ on them? An umbrella gun on _my_ vines that were simply protecting my property?”

Anger reflected in his eyes like pale fire as he stood there, his spiked hair looking sharp by moonlight as he leaned on his cane and looked hard at Ivy.

“As much as I appreciate you helping Julian, I do _not_ appreciate my men being attacked by your vines! They attacked my wife and Julian, too!”

“They were placed there to remove the threat of intruders. No one died, Oswald – except _my vines!_”

“And you can always plant some more,” Oswald said sharply, “I know you love your plants, I get that – but Ivy, you don't truly understand what family means! Not human flesh and blood!”

“_The loss was still as painful!”_ she yelled.

Oswald gave a heavy sigh as he shook his head.

“Ivy, my family has been through hell lately. I'm still in fear of Julian losing his life! You can't understand how it feels to be in my position!”

Ivy's green eyes were blazing with anger.

“_Yes I do,Oswald!”_

“For your plants, yes, I know, the loss of your plants when the city burned them. I am sorry for your loss! But if you had a family you would know what real love is!”

“I_ do_ know what that feels like! Maybe _you _would understand my pain if you'd been there, holding him in your arms, your flesh and blood, while you knew you couldn't let anyone destroy it no matter how flawed it was!”

Oswald stared at her.

“What the hell are you talking about, Ivy?”

Ivy looked down at the gravel driveway as she stood there, all anger fading out as tears formed in her eyes and she shook her head.

“Nothing, Oswald... just, the death of my plants. The vines brought it back to me... I guess we all have those we call family and everyone is different...”

She looked away. Oswald was still staring at her.

“You said, _my flesh and blood?_ Ivy, my family is all here under my roof – apart from my three youngest children who are in Ireland with their Grandfather. I'm pretty sure I don't have flesh and blood elsewhere!”

“I'm just upset,” Ivy said, and she wiped a tear from her eye, “Forget I said it. I should go now..”

“But I want to know what you meant -”

“Ivy,” Selina cut in as she hurried over to her, “Let's not do this now. Oswald was just keeping himself safe from the vines, he needed to get in and find Molly and Julian. He didn't take any pleasure in killing your plants. Let's go home, you can get some rest and tomorrow you can start working with River to find a cure for Julian. I know you didn't want to come back to the city, but once it's done, you can leave. Until then, just come home with me...”

Selina held out her hand.

Ivy nodded, she took hold of her hand, then looked back at Oswald.

“ I'm sorry. Forget what I said, I don't make a lot of sense when I'm upset.”

Then Selina led her back to the car as Oswald looked on, feeling utterly confused._ What had she said, about his flesh and blood? He knew it was also a lie that Ivy made no sense when she was upset. Ivy always made perfect sense. It was almost as if she had said too much about something, and then changed her mind and tried to take it back... _But she was in the car with Selina now, and Josh and Jax had just left the house.

“Julian's upstairs with Molly and River, Molly's putting him to bed and River's going to stay to night and keep an eye on him,” Josh said.

“Thank you,” Oswald replied, looking from Josh to Jax, “For all your help throughout this matter. Now, I want you both to take the rest of the week off. Jax, you have paternity leave to catch up on, and Josh, you've more than earned a few days at home with your wife. Return to your normal duties next week, after Ed Nygma is announced as Julian's replacement on the city council.”

“Thank you, sir,” Josh said with a smile.

Jax smiled too.

“But should you need me, I am only a phone call away!” he reminded Oswald. And then the two men turned away and headed for the car. Selina was there at the wheel with the engine running and Ivy was sitting beside her in silence as she looked downward, lost in her own thoughts. Oswald turned away and limped towards the house, feeling warm in his heart to know Julian was home. The future was uncertain, but at least they would face what ever happened next, together as a family...

On the way back, Selina stopped the car outside Jax Sterling's house and he got out, said goodnight to Josh and Selina and Ivy, and then as the car drove away, he saw the porch light blink on and he smiled warmly. As he made his way up to the door, April opened it and greeted him with a radiant smile.

“I've missed you so much!” she said, wrapping her arms around him as they shared a kiss.

“And I have missed you, April!” he assured her.

He went inside and she closed the door quietly, then she led the way upstairs to the nursery, where they paused to look in on baby Alicia, she was on her back and sleeping with a trace of a smile on her face, her eyes were like her mother's but right now they were closed and framed by long lashes. Her hair was the same dark shade as Jax, and as they looked down at her, Jax put his arm around April.

“She looks so much like you,” April said with a smile.

There was a sparkle in his eyes as Jax raised his metallic hand and gave the fingers wiggle.

“Nonsense! She doesn't have a robotic arm – and she's_ definitely_ not as chubby as I am!”

April laughed softly.

“She's as beautiful as you are,” she told him, and Jax felt his face flush.

“As much as I love married life, I'm sure I'm still getting used to the notion of compliments!” he said as they left the room quietly and closed the door, then he leaned in and they shared another kiss. Then April took him by the hand, leading him across the hall to the bedroom, where Jax sank back on to his comfortable bed, relieved to be home at last, as he gave a contented sigh as April joined him and they shared an embrace, then Jax turned out the light.

River had left the room to fetch some spare pillows and blankets. Tonight she was sleeping on the couch in Julian's room, with the lamp on next to his bed all night so she could be close at hand if he woke suddenly and needed help or reassurance. But right now, Julian was sleeping deeply. Molly had undressed him and put him to bed, and as she smoothed down the covers, she paused to sweep a hand over his fair hair as he carried on sleeping deeply.

“You're home now, sweetheart,” she said fondly, then she leaned closer and placed a kiss on his cheek.

She stood there at his bedside for a moment, watching the rise and fall of his chest beneath the covers as he slept, then as River entered the room, she turned away.

“I'm off to bed now,” she said, “It's been a very long day!”

“And I'll keep a close watch on him,” River assured her.

Just then Oswald reached the doorway. He looked over to the bed, watching as Julian slept, and then he took in a slow breath, fighting the urge to weep again.

“Thank you for staying here tonight, River. “

“Assuming he's okay tomorrow, I'm straight over to the clinic and meeting Ivy at my lab,” she said, “We're going to get to work right away on creating a formula. It won't be easy, but we're going to do our best.”

“I don't doubt that,” Oswald said, “Thank you, River. I shall leave you to care for Julian, it's been a very long day for all of us.”

As he turned to leave, Molly left the room too, and she put her arm around her husband as he limped towards their bedroom.

“I've missed you so much!” he said to her.

“I've missed you too, Oswald,” Molly replied.

Then they reached the bedroom and Molly paused to kiss him fondly, before closing the door behind them and then going through to the bathroom, where she turned on the shower. Moments later they were embracing under the water and sharing kisses as they washed away the heat of the day and Molly cleaned the dirt from her scratches. Then they went to bed, both still damp from the shower as the cool night air drifted in through the window. On any other night, they would have been making love after such closeness, but it had been a long day and they were both exhausted, falling asleep together as moonlight shone through the window.

Next morning, Ivy wandered into the front room early wearing a small bath towel wrapped around her curvy body. Her hair was still damp from the shower and she opened the windows, smiling as the sunlight hit her face and she saw the roses in bloom in the garden. It seemed Selina and Josh both loved to care for their plants. They were not up yet. Curiosity got the better of her, and she gave a sigh, fading through the wall and emerging in the bedroom upstairs.

Ivy stood at the foot of the bed, watching them sleep. Josh was lying there on his side with the covers off. Selina was on her back. They were both naked. Ivy's gaze roamed over Josh, taking in the sight of his firm, athletic body. Then her gaze wandered over Selina's breasts and the way they rose and fell as she slumbered. Her gaze shifted down to the soft, neat triangle of hair between her legs and she wished she could plant kisses on those perfect thighs and then bury her face there, tasting her and recalling the scent of her body, a scent she had missed for too long. She thought about the licker plant and how it had opened up his ass and wondered if Josh was still stretched down there. A finger inside would soon tell her...

She licked her lips and stepped closer, winding a strand of red hair about her finger as she looked at them, watching them sleep. Then Selina seemed to sense she had company and woke with a start, sitting upright as Josh turned over and blinked, then stared at Ivy, who was in their bedroom while they lay naked together with the sheets off the bed...

“Hi,” Ivy said, “Sorry about this... maybe I should go...I don't want to go, just like I didn't want to leave the city but I had no choice at the time... God, you're still beautiful. You're_ both _beautiful.”

Selina was looking at Ivy wrapped in that towel as a flood of memories hit her, all of which made her wet. It was there in her green eyes, so much desire... that fire had never died out. Josh was also looking at Ivy, and then he turned his head and looked to Selina.

“What... what are we doing?” he asked with a smile.

Selina smiled too.

“_This,”_ she replied softly.

Ivy's towel slid to the floor and she climbed on to the bed, claiming Selina's mouth with a deep and lasting kiss as Josh looked on, instantly erect. Ivy's hand slid up to his cock and she started to stroke him. He wanted to think about that some more, but he couldn't take his eyes off the sight of Ivy's head between his wife's legs as she lapped at Selina's pussy and Selina spread her legs wider, panting and thrusting her hips as her face began to flush.

“_I've missed this!” _she gasped.

Josh thrust up into Ivy's hand, spilling come fast and hot, he was still coming down from that as Selina hit her peak and Ivy ate her harder, making her yell, a yell that was muffled as Josh covered her mouth with a kiss. They slumped together, in a tangle of warm embrace, Selina in the middle as Ivy held her and Josh did too.

“That was wild!” Josh said excitedly, and Selina started to smile as she looked at Ivy, then turned her head and met his gaze.

“I don't know what that was!” Ivy said as she laughed softly.

Selina had already decided as she hugged them both close. It had been a long time, for her and Ivy, but life was changing and she knew exactly how to define it:

“It's what ever we want it to be,” she said with a smile and hugged them both.

At the mansion, Molly had given Oswald the softest of kisses, careful not to wake him as she slipped out of bed. She paused to watch him sleeping, then she left the room, knowing he would sleep in late that morning, because yesterday had been an ordeal. Oswald didn't do well with stress – not when it came to family worries. She made her way up the hallway, then paused at Julian's door, River had just got up and she blinked tired eyes and turned away from his bedside as she kept her voice low.

“He's okay,” she said with a smile, “He's still a little tired, but the side effects have worn off. He's going to need painkillers for the bruising to his head – but not morphine, not now. He will be well enough to get up tomorrow. I need to grab some sleep before I go home, I'm too tired to drive.”

“You go and rest in Luna's room across the hall,” Molly replied, “I'll take over from here.”

“Thanks, Molly,” said River, and then she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Molly went over to Julian's bed and sat on the edge of it. He gave a sigh and opened his eyes and looked up at her and smiled.

“Hi, Molly,” he said weakly.

“How are you today?” she asked.

He raised his hand slowly and ran it cautiously through his hair, a brief flicker of pain registering on his face as his fingers brushed the site of the needle mark.

“It hurts, I feel like I've been hit with a brick!”

“But you don't have to worry about changing any more,” she reminded him, “You're back to being our Julian now, the man we know and love so much.”

Julian shifted slightly, cautiously turning his head to take the pressure off the painful bruising, then he met Molly's gaze once more as he looked up at her and reached for her hand.

“_I owe you my life.”_

“No, you don't!” she said gently, “I was only helping you out! And you have to rest for the next few weeks, take it easy, be very careful. But the good news is, River and Ivy have an idea, they think there's something they can use – but they have to come up with a formula that will work to clean out all trace of the scar tissue.”

Julian was holding Molly's hand as he thought about it.

“And then I'll be okay?”

“If they can do it in time, yes, you'll be clear of this condition and hopefully live a very long life,” she told him, “But...”

As she hesitated, she saw a flicker of fear in his eyes and it made her heart ache. But at the lab, before they left, Ivy and River had outlined their plans, and he needed to know everything, to get used to the idea before it happened...

“But what, Molly?” he said quietly, “If it's bad news, just tell me. I need to know.”

She held his hand a little tighter.

“If it works – if they can wipe out the scar tissue, the pathways will have to fire up again as the copy cells rebuild it. That means it won't rebuild as well as it did when River brought you back after you got out of Ashecliffe. There's a risk you could die during the surgery, and they're certain you will be left with a degree of brain damage – some of it will heal as the copy cells rebuild, but it won't be the same.”

Julian drew in a sharp breath as he blinked away tears.

“It doesn't sound like a fuckin' miracle cure to me!”

“It's not, but it's all we have,” she told him softly as she stroked his hair, “Please, Julian – listen to me – it's a cure! You get to survive this and have a life to look forward to.”

“With disability.”

“Maybe...I don't know. But I will be there for you always, my darling. And so will Oswald.”

Julian sniffed and wiped his eyes.

“A cure is making me better, _not_ fucking me up!”

“Please don't be like this! Right now, you have six weeks. You could have many, many years ahead of you if you do this!”

Fear shone in his gaze.

“_I'm scared. And this isn't a cure, this is bullshit!”_

“No, don't be like that, sweetheart, it's okay.”

“_No, it's not!”_

Molly leaned closer, wrapping her arms around him as she held him tightly and he clung to her, fear still plain in his eyes as he held on, trying not to break down and weep.

“I'm here for you, we both are!” she reminded him, “And we love you!”

As she drew back, he still had his arms around her.

“I love you too, Molly,” he said, “You were there for me when no one else was on my side. You never let me down. I do, I _really_ love you!”

He looked at her and she looked at him as silence passed between them. They were still looking at each other and Molly gently let go, easing Julian back to the softness of his pillow.

“You should rest now.”

“I don't want you to go!”

Molly stood there looking at Julian, remembering that dream where she had been the wolf, then recalling what Ivy had told her about that dream. She gave a small shake of her head as a thought ran through her mind:

_'I'm Molly MacQueen, daughter of Kane – I can take on Jeremiah Velaska and kick his arse to save my Oswald, I can even take on the likes of Bane and not shit myself with fear...But Julian suggests there might be something between us and I bloody freeze like a deer in headlights!'_

Julian was still looking at her pleadingly.

“Molly...” he said cautiously, “May I please have another hug? Please...I...I need a hug... from you. Please may I have one?”

He looked so timid, so scared to ask. _Typical of submissive, shy Julian. Sweet Julian... _

_Stop it, Molly!_ She told herself.

“You can have a hug,” she said warmly, and she leaned over his bed, holding him a second time as he clung to her, pressing his face against her shoulder. He suddenly pulled back, still holding on as he looked into her eyes and spoke urgently.

“If they can't find the cure in time, I'll be gone in six weeks.”

“Don't talk like that!”

“But I will, Molly! I'll die! I..I want you to know....” his hand shook as he reached up, running a lock of her hair through his fingers, “I do... I love you.....S-so much... _sorry_...”

His face flushed as he looked away.

Molly stood up straight, feeling bewildered.

“I love you too,” she said quickly and he turned his head a little too fast as pain briefly registered on his face and then he smiled.

“You mean that?”

Molly was freezing again.

_Say something Molly, say anything, just don't bloody stand there, you twat! _Ran through her mind.

Molly smiled.

“You know what I think you need?”

As he lay there resting his face flushed again.

“Oh no, not yet.. not _that_, please, I had surgery yesterday. I'm not up to -”

_He thought she was offering him something sexual?_ She knew she was blushing furiously now.

“Breakfast!” Molly cut in quickly, “Yes, _that's _what you need! I'm going to cook you a nice early breakfast, then I should go and wake Oswald and give him his tea. I'll make you some tea too, Julian...Oh! And then I have to call Dad and chat to the kids... what a busy morning! You stay there and rest... see you soon...” she turned away and hurried from the room, closing the door behind her and exhaling deeply as she waved a hand to fan the heat from her face. She felt like a fool. WHY couldn't she handle this?

_Because you love him and you feckin' know it! _Ran though her head, _You love Oswald and Julian. You just don't want to think about Julian..._

Molly took a slow breath.

“_Right...” _she whispered as she composed herself,_ “Breakfast...”_

Then she hurried downstairs to cook breakfast and make a long phone call to her Dad and take time to talk to the kids. Then she would leave the food with Julian and make Oswald's tea, and then wake Oswald and spend time with her husband, and _not _think about Julian...

Molly tried not to think about Julian, at least, not in the way that got her so worked up. The day after he came home, he was feeling much better, so much better that he was able to get up and get dressed and seeing him so well brought tears to her eyes. She knew it wouldn't last. She didn't want to think about that. She and Oswald spent every moment with him, Oswald even put gangland meetings on hold, and his associates understood, because they knew his son was sick again.

And Oswald watched as Molly devoted her time to Julian, he saw the way they looked at each other, yet when Molly looked at him, she still had the same love in her eyes that had always been there. He thought again about his fear that they had been having an affair._ No, of course not._ But if the love was there, and they were denying it, that thought also made his heart ache, because he knew if Ivy failed to find a cure, Julian would die. Even with the cure available, there was no certainty he would make it through the procedure. Every day was precious, and Oswald hoped with all his heart that he wouldn't have to console Molly at Julian's grave, knowing her heart would ache forever for his loss. He knew his own heart would ache too, but in a different way. Mother had been right, his love for Julian was that of a brother. By now, five days had passed by since Julian had returned home. A few days from now, the kids would be back from Ireland. He didn't know what to tell them about Julian's condition. Molly had said it was best to wait, because right now, Julian was well and not showing any sign of getting weaker. Ivy and River had been working night and day on finding a formula that would work on the scar tissue.

_And then a phone call came that would change everything, and in more ways than one. _

_That call was from River._

_She was at the clinic with Ivy, and she said they had found a cure._

Molly waited at home with Julian, who said he would talk about this cure if Oswald came back and said it was worth taking the risk. Oswald drove straight over to the clinic, and was met by a very excited River and an equally elated Ivy.

“_We did it!”_ Ivy exclaimed.

“Well, we haven't done it yet – only in theory,” River corrected her as they led the way to the lab, “But this is good news, Dad – it's really good news!”

They went into the lab and Oswald limped over to a screen where Ivy played back a simulation.

“You see what happens when all seventy plus pathways get hit at the same time by the formula? That's a plant agent plus a carrier formula of mine – we inject into the surface of the brain in all the highest points where it's spread, and this happens...”

Oswald watched as the pathways started to clear from the surface downward. In minutes the pathways were clean and started to slowly spark and change direction as they rebuilt themselves.

“This is amazing! You can really do this?”

Ivy was smiling as she started to explain.

“It was a long shot – we thought, if this works, we're there. If it doesn't, we're back to looking for another agent and that could have taken longer than the time frame. This really was a wild stab in the dark... but we got lucky!”

Oswald's eyes shone with joy.

“And how long until Julian can have the treatment?”

“We want to do it as soon as possible,” River replied, not sharing Ivy's bubbling enthusiasm as she spoke, “because this is all we have and it's better if we do the procedure soon rather than wait, because right now, Julian is still strong enough to get through this. And it is risky. He could die during the surgery, Dad. There are no guarantees he will get through it. It's a huge risk. But if he does survive, he's cured. The pathways will have to rebuild and that will take a few months to complete and they won't rebuild the same. It's a good thing you gave Ed Nygma his old job. Julian won't be able to go back to work. He should have a good quality of life, he but he's always going to need a degree of help. Some brain damage is inevitable, but it won't be disastrous. He should pull through this okay and be able to have a long and reasonably good life... if he survives.”

Oswald's smile had faded at the reminder of how dangerous this procedure was. He drew in a slow breath.

“When did you want to carry out the procedure?”

“We need forty eight hours to set up the formula and the equipment,” River said, “Then he can come in and have the surgery.”

“Three days?”

Oswald felt an ache in his heart as he wondered if Julian would still be around

three days from now.

“We can't wait,” River reminded him, “he's strong and he needs to be reasonably well to get through this.”

Ivy checked her watch.

“I have to go,” she said, “We're celebrating tonight. Me and Selina and Josh...”

“What's the occasion?” Oswald asked.

Ivy's eyes shone with joy.

“We've formed a three-way relationship! I won't be living with them full time as I have commitments back home... the plants... but it works for us!”

Oswald stared at her, then his face flushed and he smiled briefly.

“I see... Well, that's nice...”

It was all he could say as he blushed and so many questions ran through his mind, questions he felt too awkward to ask as for a moment, he pictured Ivy and Josh and Selina in all manner of positions, together, all the time...

_He couldn't ask exactly how it worked._

_He was still blushing._

Then as Ivy left, Oswald turned his attention back to River, turning his thoughts to the matter at hand.

“Please, tell me more about this procedure, so I can talk to Julian about it. I know he's going to be very nervous. I was thinking maybe I can talk to him today and maybe you could come over the day before the surgery and discuss it further with him?”

“That's an excellent idea,” River agreed, and she began to explain everything.

By the time Oswald left the clinic and started on the drive home, he was feeling more optimistic. River had explained everything in detail and now he knew how it worked, he felt confident to tell Julian that he stood a very good chance of coming through this and regaining his life. This treatment would be his last, he would be cured... And there was something else he wanted to do, too. Curiosity was gnawing away at him as he parked the car outside the mansion and then stayed in the car to send a message:

_Josh,_ he wrote,_ I require your presence at the mansion tomorrow for an informal meeting. Please be here by eleven am – Mr Penguin._

He sent the message then got out of the car and limped towards the house, feeling sure he could ease Julian's fears about the surgery now he was able to explain the procedure. He was feeing optimistic. He hoped it would go well, he had faith in River and in Ivy. And he was also looking forward to speaking to Josh tomorrow morning, because there was another matter that had caught his attention, and only Josh could enlighten him...


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Molly sat there beside Oswald in the front room , saying nothing as Oswald began to explain the procedure to Julian. He was listening, but she knew from his emotional state while she had kept him company in Oswald's absence that nothing her husband said would really ease his fears. Julian sat there with his hand resting on a glass of scotch on the table beside him as he looked down at the floor, listening to all Oswald had to say.

“There's every chance you will make it,” Oswald said hopefully, “River told me, the sooner you have the surgery the better, because you're still strong enough to come through this. It's a cure, Julian. After this you can look to the future - you will have a future.”

Julian sipped from his glass and set it down, then he sat back in the arm chair and looked to Oswald.

“So she wants to get seventy eight microscopic drills and make all those holes in my head, then inject each one at the same time with the formula to kill the scar tissue.”

“Yes,” Oswald replied, “There's no cutting or stitches involved, after the first forty-eight hours, just a lot of small needle marks and bruising. You will be able to come home to recover. It will take a while for all of the pathways to rebuild but River thinks you will still have a reasonably good quality of life.”

“I could have six weeks of being myself,” he said as emotion choked his voice and his eyes glazed with tears, “Or I could have this treatment and have a lifetime with an unknown quantity of disability? That's assuming I survive. Don't you see this from _my_ point of view?”

Oswald wanted to yell. He resisted the urge.

“Julian, you will die without treatment. That's not a maybe, that's definite! This is your only chance to save yourself! _Pleas_e take it!”

He looked to his drink and pushed it aside.

“I don't want to die,” he said as he blinked back tears, “But you have no idea how scary this is for me! I don't know how much quality of life I'll have left - _if_ I wake up on the other side of this procedure!”

“River and Ivy are confident you will have a good quality of life. There's no terrible scenario if you pull through this, Julian! You get your life back! Don't you want to see the kids grow up?”

He blinked more tears away.

“Of course I do!”

“And you want to have more time with me and Molly?”

“_That's a stupid question!” _Julian took in a sharp breath, looking away as he fought back more tears and his tension began to rise along with his anxiety.

He reached for his drink, drank the rest of it and set the glass down sharply.

“So if I want to live I have to go through this and hope for the best? I'll probably die but I should give up my last six weeks of normal life and _hope_ I make it through this? I've had brain damage, Oswald – I _know_ what it's like!”

Julian had started to raise his voice as he said that, he was breathing harder as he wiped his eyes and then slowly shook his head.

“I am _so_ fucking scared!”

Oswald reached for Molly's hand as she gave it a squeeze, knowing he was about to say something he found difficult.

“River said that you're also affected by what you've been through recently, by that, I don't just mean the personality changes, I mean my reaction to it. And it's all been traumatic for you and I take full responsibility for that, Julian.”

“I don't blame you,” he said as he looked over, meeting Oswald's gaze. “I went crazy. I turned into a monster. Of course you would react the way you did. And I forgive you, let's not go over this again.”

Oswald's hand trembled in Molly's grip. She let go and slid her hand up to the middle of his back, giving a gentle rub.

“Don't get upset,” she said softly, and Oswald nodded.

“I'm trying not to!” he said quickly, and then he looked back at Julian.

“It is a risk,” Oswald added honestly, “But if we do nothing, you will die.”

“I don't want to die,” Julian replied, and he reached for the bottle on the table. Oswald watched as he poured another drink and then took a sip from his glass.

“At a time like this, as terrible as the advice may seem, a drink might help. I can recall many times I faced danger in the old days and I rarely did it without a drink or two inside me. You need to try and calm yourself and think about this as a way forward. There is no other choice.”

He looked pleadingly at Julian, who sipped from his glass again and then nodded.

“I know I have to do this,” he gave a heavy sigh as he put his drink down, leaning back against the chair as he looked from Molly to Oswald, and then he forced a smile.

“At least it's not like before. And it's nothing like I went through at Ashecliffe. No cutting, just tiny needles... that doesn't sound too bad. At least I won't have a huge painful scar. And I won't lose my hair.”

Oswald thought back to all River had told him. Julian saw his expression change.

“What now?” he demanded as anxiety crept back into his voice.

“You're having very tiny needles inserted into your head and they are going into your brain, of course you will need your hair shaved.”

Julian tensed visibly as he reached for his drink again.

“How much of it?”

“All of it, River said you will have to have your head completely shaved – but she won't do it until you're unconscious. She won't do any thing to traumatise you, she's aware of what you went through at the asylum.”

Julian looked at him sharply.

“_I went thought five years of torture in that place!”_ he yelled, _“I had no say in what they did to me! They used to hold me down and shave my hair and sometimes I was still awake as I felt them start to cut me! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT THAT FEELS LIKE!”_

“_YES I DOI!”_ Oswald yelled back as Molly looked on in alarm.

Then as Julian fell silent and stared at him, Oswald took a deep breath, reaching for his own drink and taking a big swallow before he spoke again.

“I was also a victim of torture. In Arkham, I was put through behaviour altering therapy that was agony. It was mental and emotional violation of the worst kind! Only one who has been tortured can understand the emotional trauma, Julian. I do understand what you went through! My ordeal was different to yours and it didn't go on for years like yours did, but I _have_ lived through torture. I know those memories must be wide awake for you right now. But remember we all love you. And you are not – and never will be – alone with any of your problems or your pain, emotional or otherwise!”

Oswald's eyes had filled with tears. He got up from the chair leaving his cane behind and limped over to Julian, wrapping his arms around him as Julian clung on tightly and wept.

“_I'm terrified!”_ he sobbed.

“And I'm here for you,” Oswald vowed, “I will always be here for you.”

Molly looked on as the two of them embraced and as Oswald let go, Julian was feeling stronger and it reflected in his eyes.

“I guess the shit from the past makes me go a bit crazy sometimes!” he said as he wiped his eyes.

Oswald smiled fondly as he nodded in agreement.

“I certainly know that feeling,” he agreed.

Julian paused for thought, then as he spoke again, he sounded calmer. The situation had certainly rattled the cage where his demons slept, but he had it under control again.

“I know the surgery is my only chance. And I'm going to take that chance,” he said, then as he rose from his seat, Oswald hugged him again, and as he let go, Molly joined them, also giving Julian a hug.

“I can do this, I'll cope, I'll get through it.” he assured them both. He sounded like he meant it. All they could do now was hope he was sure about that...

Next morning, Julian slept in late. Molly was up early to talk to the kids on video call, and she told them hopefully Julian would better soon, because he was having a treatment that would cure him. After she had spoken to the kids, she talked to her Dad.

“At least this is a real chance for him to get better,” Kane told her, “It's so good to know Oswald's being supportive now, too. I think Julian will come through this okay. He's got his family there for him, you all love him and he won't be struggling alone as he recovers. Do you want the kids to stay here for a few more days, at least until he's had the surgery and he's out of danger?”

Molly's heart ached as she thought of her kids, missing them sharply. But her Dad had done the right thing, taking them to Ireland while all the trouble had blown over, and it seemed for the best that they came back when Julian was through the worst of it.

“I miss them so much, but yes please Dad,” she said, “They're not back at school yet, they can have a few more days with you and Mam. And I know they miss living in Ireland, and miss seeing you both almost every day – so yes, have them for a few more days. And please tell Cain and Luna, when they come home, they have to be quiet because Julian will be in bed resting!”

Kane chuckled.

“I'll certainly do that,” he replied warmly, “And it's good to hear you sounding so positive again, Molly. You're looking forward to Julian coming home. You're expecting him to pull through this. So you should. He's a fighter.”

“He has to come through it,” Molly replied, “None of us can even think about losing him.”

“And you won't, god willing,” Kane replied, “I'll keep him in my prayers.”

Molly spoke a while longer, then ended the call. Julian had got up, had a late breakfast and then gone back upstairs again, feeling the stress of his worries take its toll already. Molly sat for a while with Oswald, it was one of those days when few words were needed as they embraced on the sofa as the clock ticked quietly on the wall and they shared silence and togetherness.

“We will get him through this,” Oswald promised her, “We won't lose him.”

“I can't imagine losing him,” Molly replied.

“We won't,” Oswald said again.

Later that morning, while Molly was outside in the garden and Julian was upstairs resting, Oswald had a visitor. As he opened the door, Josh stood there and greeted him with a smile.

“Good morning, sir,” he said, and Oswald smiled back at him, taking in the sight of his immaculate suit and well groomed appearance.

“You're not on duty,” he told him as he invited him and closed the door behind them, “Maybe I should have mentioned that. And because of that, please call me Oswald and don't worry about usual rules and regulations. I would like to have a friendly, informal chat with you – talking as gentlemen do. I plan to discuss what I consider subject matter that is definitely a gentleman's conversation... come with me.”

He limped off toward the study as Josh followed, wondering what his boss was talking about. When they got there, they went inside and Oswald closed the door.

“Have a seat, Josh,” he said, gesturing to a comfortable couch by the window. A tray of tea had been placed on the table, and as Josh sat down, Oswald sat down too and began to pour the tea.

“I made the tea this morning,” Oswald informed him, “And this is my best china. It was Mother's. She had several bone china tea sets.”

Josh looked down at the delicate lemon and gold tea set and felt as if he may as well be handling a great treasure.

“It was your Mother's? You got this out for me? Wow... Thanks. I'll be very careful.”

Oswald smiled warmly, watching as Josh took a sip from the cup and then he set his own cup down and spoke up.

“You might want to put that down before we begin... as you wanted to be careful with it. This is a rather delicate subject.”

“Yes sir – I mean, Oswald, “ Josh replied, and he carefully set the cup and saucer back on the table.

They looked at each other. Oswald was sat one end of the sofa, Josh on the other. Oswald smiled again.

“Well,” he said, “This is nice. Two gentleman having a chat... although I'm not sure where to begin...”

He lowered his gaze, then he looked about the room, then he reached for his pocket and fumbled with his silk handkerchief and straightened it again. He tapped his fingers on the table, sipped more tea and set the cup down.

“Yes, a very delicate subject.. one I know little about...” Oswald added.

Josh could tell, for all his wealth and power, Oswald was struggling with _something_...

“What's this about, Oswald?” he asked.

Oswald paused again.

“I was curious. And I mean no offense by it, I just wanted to learn what it actually involves... “ his eyes sparkled as he winked, “You know...”

Josh smiled as he shook his head. Penguin was not really any closer to explaining what this was about...

“Maybe you should just say it because I don't know, Oswald,” he admitted.

Oswald felt his face heat up. He dropped his voice a little.

“I was curious about your..._ forbidden relationship_.”

Josh looked as puzzled as he felt.

“What forbidden relationship?”

“You and your wife... and Ivy...”

Oswald had said it so carefully, as if it was a great secret. Josh smiled. Clearly, Oswald had not had a great deal of experience in relationships, or knew anything about threesomes...

“Oh that!” Josh said, and he laughed softly, “Its not forbidden, Oswald. It's not illegal or shocking or taboo in any way. It's just a three way relationship. A lot of people have them.”

Surprise registered in Oswald's bright gaze.

“And how would that work? How does it work for you three, if you don't mind me asking?”

Josh wanted to hug his boss at that moment. Oswald had gone to the trouble of bringing out his mother's cherished china tea set in his honour, just to ask about this...

“I don't mind you asking,” Josh assured him, “It's like this : I'm married to Selina and we love each other. And she and Ivy used to be a couple, but Ivy has her own life and her plants mean a lot to her so she's not around all the time. She will come over and see us when ever she can, and then we all get together.”

Oswald was listening intently. He looked at Josh, waiting for more.

“Go on.”

Josh laughed as he shook his head.

“Are you sure about this?”

Oswald smiled.

“Feel free to explain in any way you see fit. And don't worry about rules today. Use what ever language is required to help me understand this. Be crude if you must!”

“Sometimes Ivy goes down on me and uses her hand on Selina. Or the other way around. Sometimes they both have sex with me...and sometimes we just have dinner and drinks. It's not always about sex. But Selina is in love with me and she sees Ivy as an added dimension to us, but as I said, once Julian is cured, she's going back to the forest, she needs to be with her plants. We'll probably see her a couple of times a month after that, and we'll both look forward to it.”

Oswald paused for thought.

”So a three way relationship requires all three people to be sexually involved at once?”

Josh smiled as he shook his head.

“There are no rules, Oswald. It's what is, everyone is different. Some people are three together, or sometimes two people are seeing the same person but not together as a threesome. Maybe a couple could have a lover and share the wife or share the husband, it doesn't mean all three are having sex with each other. It could be two people taking turns with the same person.”

Oswald's eyes lit up as his imagination threatened to go into overdrive.

“May ask, as one man to another... how do you feel, knowing Ivy has made love to your wife?”

Josh laughed as amusement shone in his gaze.

“It's fucking hot! It's hotter when they both have sex with me, but yes, I like the idea that my wife is so hot I can watch her with someone else. I also know she loves me and Ivy is not threat to us, she's a friend we both care for very much. It's a good arrangement.”

“Thank you so much for explaining! I feel so enlightened!” Oswald said as his eyes sparkled and a smile lit up his face.

“No problem,” Josh replied, reaching for his tea, “I'm glad I took the mystery away for you. I mean, in a city like Gotham, anything can happen it's an open minded place. And what ever happens between consenting adults is okay, it's allowed, and just because you don't know anyone in my situation, it doesn't mean they are not out there - not everyone likes to talk about their private life. A lot of people have relationships like ours, but some prefer to be discreet. It's down to the individual.”

“Ah yes,” Oswald agreed, “Discretion... that's understandable.”

Josh looked at him for a moment. He felt completely at ease, speaking to Oswald informally, and clearly, Oswald had learned a great deal, and he couldn't help but wonder why he had asked.

“Are are you thinking about doing something like that? A threesome, maybe?”

Oswald laughed a little too hard as his face turned scarlet.

“Me? Oh _no_, no! I was just curious, that's all!”

Oswald was still blushing. Josh helped him out by changed the subject, talking about Jax and April and how he was planning to go over to the house tomorrow to visit. Oswald started to talk about Jax Sterling's impressive garden. Clearly, there was something on Oswald's mind, because he was still blushing and very keen _not _to mention threesomes again. Josh didn't ask why. He stayed for another hour as Oswald kept the conversation well away from sex. Then after more tea, Oswald told him to enjoy the rest of his time off. Then Josh left, and Oswald closed the front door.

As he thought about all he had learned, the flush came back to his face. He had never known much about the ways of the world, not carnally – but today, he had been enlightened. It wasn't the thought of Josh and Ivy with Selina that had brought his raging hard on back so fast that he could barely control himself, it was a combination of all he had just learned and his own thoughts that danced through his head, fantasies had sparked up in his mind and a tiny flicker of lust had just turned into a raging inferno. He would talk to Molly about it later, this was something that had to wait – but his own needs could not. He felt as if he was about to bust the zip on his pants as he limped quickly to the bathroom and closed the door and locked it.

Oswald stood there in the bathroom, tissues ready as he quickly jerked his cock, closing his eyes as he thought about Molly, coming to him with desire in her gaze after another man's hands had roamed over her body. _He would pin her down and part her legs and fill her with a single thrust._

“_You brazen hussy!” _he whispered in his fantasy, _“You naughty girl, my painted lady! You want more cock? I'll show you what a big cock feels like!” _

He was still fucking her hard in his mind as he came sharply, catching his breath then closing the tissues around throbs and spurts that threatened to stain his suit. He disposed of the paper and flushed the toilet, then tidied his clothing. Turning to the mirror, he saw his eyes were still dark with desire. _Yes, he would be talking to Molly about his fantasies. But not yet, not when more urgent matters were at hand. _He took a deep breath, pushing aside all thoughts that could wait and left the bathroom, determined not to let his mind stray again – at least not until the worries that hung over them had finally melted away...

Josh had returned home to a big surprise. Selina was baking something in the oven and it smelled like cherry pie. Ivy had just returned from the lab, saying she had nothing more to do until tomorrow when she and River would set up the formula ready for use on the day of the surgery. And Ivy had exchanged a glance with Selina and then Selina had looked Josh up and down, smiling as she took in the sight of him standing there in his suit. Then she slapped his ass sharply.

“Upstairs!” she said as lust shone in her gaze as behind him, Ivy giggled.

It was a quick but arousing experience, standing in the bedroom being stripped by two women.

“Let's see how much you can take!” Selina told him, and as she pushed him on to the bed, he saw the sex toys and the lube and gave a low moan of pleasure, feeling helplessly accepting of the hand the rubbed at his ass, then slid two fingers in with ease.

“You're still stretched...” Selina said.

He opened his mouth to reply, and it was filled by a dildo. Ivy thrusting in and out of his mouth as Selina pushed into him from behind was almost too much for his solid cock as it ached for release. Selina made him wait. She slapped his ass again, this time her palm on to bare flesh as he felt the sting, then she thrust in again as he gave a muffled moan that was stifled by the dildo fucking his face. Being pounded from both ends was mind blowing. It was even better than the day before, when Selina had fisted him as Ivy jerked him off.

“_You're my favourite sex toy!” Ivy had said in his ear._

“_MY sex toy!” Selina had reminded her._

But this, was far more intense. It seemed they never ran out of ideas when it came to ways to use and dominate him in the bedroom. That dildo was still fucking his face as Selina pushed into him firmly, hitting the right spot as he moaned against the thick length in his mouth as he covered the sheets with come. Ivy pulled away and he gasped for air. Selina drew out of him and gave his ass a squeeze.

“Change the sheets, you made a mess!” she said teasingly, “Better do it quick, before you stick to it!” then she kissed his cheek and walked naked from the room just as the timer on the oven sounded downstairs to remind her the pie was ready. Josh slumped down onto a pool of his own come.

“Cute ass,” Ivy said, giving it a slap.

Then she left the room too, and for a moment Josh just lay there, recovering as he started to smile. Life just got better around here all the time. He loved to come home to surprises...

Molly had come in from the garden to find Oswald in the study running through paperwork. She collected the tea tray and went to the kitchen, made him more tea still using his mother's tea set, and left it in the study as she hoped that incentive would keep him off the booze. |

“I'm going up to check on Julian,” she said and he nodded, then carried on looking down at the paperwork as she left the room.

Molly went upstairs and found Julian in his room, sitting on his bed as he tried to relax, but there was a worried look on his face. He had been deep in thought, probably too deep, she decided as she entered the room.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He turned his head and managed a brief smile.

“As okay as I can be for someone who could be dead in a couple of days time... Sorry, I'm thinking too much.”

He sat up and then got off the bed, pausing to turn to the mirror as he ran a hand through his hair, then he looked intently into the glass as he touched his hair again.

“I really don't want my head shaved.”

“It will grow back,” Molly reminded him.

“If I'm still alive to grow it back,” Julian said quietly.

Molly joined him at the mirror as their gaze met through the glass.

“You will get through this,” she promised him.

He turned to her as she turned to him and their eyes met.

“I'm sorry about last night,” he added, “I was upset, scared... I still am.”

Molly looked fondly at Julian, then she reached out and gently ran her hand over his hair.

“Don't be scared,” she said softly, “You know we're both here for you.”

Julian smiled as in that moment, all his fears were pushed aside.

“I can't doubt the word of the woman who busted me out of the clinic and drove off into the forest with me, not knowing if I was a threat to her. You took such a chance for me, Molly.”

A swell of emotion was building in her heart.

“I happen to know you're worth it,” she said, then she hugged him and he clung to her, pressing his face against her shoulder. As she let go he stepped back, smiling shyly.

“Thank you.”

“You don't have to thank me, I was just doing the right thing, to help you out -”

“No, I...I meant, thank you for the hug.”

He smiled again, looking away, then he stepped back towards the bed.

“I think I'll stay up here today, I just want to be in my room.”

“No, come downstairs,” she told him, “It's not good to be up here worrying on your own, Julian. Come downstairs with me and Oswald.”

Julian smiled again.

“Okay,” he said, “I'll come downstairs, just for a little while.”

“And you'll feel much better for it,” she told him as they left the room and headed for the stairs, “You go and sit in the front room, I'll get Oswald out of the study – he's been lost in paperwork for over an hour!”

They went downstairs and Julian went off to the front room. Molly was about to head for the study when there was a knock at the door. She turned back and went to the front door and opened it. And seeing who the caller was, came as a shock :

_It was Iris. _

_What the hell was she doing back here after walking out on Julian?_

For a moment Molly looked at Iris, who looked back at her, and then Iris spoke up.

“I called the clinic. River said Julian's had a treatment to fix the personality problem. She said he's not a threat any more...” Iris blinked away tears, “I really want to see him. I need to talk to him!”

Molly was still looking at her.

“He's got two more days before very risky surgery to wipe out the scar tissue,” she said in a low voice as _fuck it, I'm going to say it_, ran through her mind, “And_ if_ you upset him, if you do _anything _to ruin what could be his last days on this earth, I swear you'll see a side to me you'll never fuckin' forget!” she said fiercely.

“I just want to see him,” Iris said again, “Please, Molly, let me in!”

“Wait there,” she said, and closed the door again.

Molly had gone into the front room and spoken to Julian, she had asked him twice if he was sure he wanted to speak with Iris, and he had nodded and told her to send her in. Molly was determined to hang around while they spoke, just to be sure this wouldn't turn bad. She went back to the front door, let her in and then led Iris to the front room, then she walked over to the other side of the room where the door was open to the garden and she lingered there, as Iris sat beside Julian on the sofa and they started to speak...

“What do you want?” Julian asked her quietly.

“I came back because I'm sorry, for leaving, for not stopping to think about the reason for what you did – the past came back at me and it blurred my sense of understanding. But that's gone now, Julian! I blamed you for what you did, I'm so sorry.”

He paused for a moment and then met her gaze.

“I loved you so much, Iris. You were my whole life and when I needed you most, you left me. I get why you did that, I really do. But I don't think you can ever forget what happened years ago between you and me. We both know it was down to the Tetch virus and I guess it comes down to this: The Tetch virus that's destroying my life has also destroyed us. I don't think you can ever trust me again.”

“But I can – in time... I'm trying to, Julian... I just want to make everything right -”

“You can't,” Julian replied softly, “I can see it in your eyes, you still don't trust me.”

And Molly had been listening to everything, and as she walked back into the room, she looked at Iris and noticed something: She was carrying a small handbag, and clutching it tightly with both hands as she spoke, holding it close to her body. _Like she was hiding something?_ Molly looked at the huge gap on the sofa between Julian and Iris. She looked again at how tense and uneasy Iris seemed.

“What's in the bag?” she asked as she joined them, standing over Iris.

“It's just my purse.”

“_Open it.”_

Iris looked up at Molly, then she briefly closed her eyes as she set the bag down on the table and left it there.

“Sorry,” she said as tears choked her voice, “I know River said you're not a threat now, but I had to be sure for my sake... in case she was wrong...”

Molly tipped the contents of the bag on to the table. A small purse with some notes and change fell out as the open purse sent coins scattering across the table top. Her phone had slid out_. And there was a gun. A small revolver, big enough to fit in her bag for protection..._Molly snatched it up and then opened up the chamber as bullets slid out and hit the table top with a crack. Her eyes were blazing.

“_You fucking bitch!” _she fumed in a low, angry voice.

Iris got up and started to grab at everything to cram it back into the bag.

“No, I _never_ would have hurt you, Julian!” she said tearfully as she pushed the last of the bullets out of sight and snatched up her bag, “It was just in case -”

Molly stepped closer.

“River _told_ you the situation! She said, _Julian is no longer a threat!_ And you came here with a loaded fucking gun, just be sure? He's having surgery two days from now and he might not make it! _And you came in here with a fucking gun?_”

Julian was still sitting on the couch. His face had paled as tears glazed his eyes and he looked away from Iris.

“I want you to go,” he said as his voice trembled.

“But I wasn't going to use it -”

Molly glared at her.

“_Get out of my house!”_ she yelled.

Iris saw rage in her eyes. Julian was still looking away. She gave a gasp as Molly grabbed her by the arm and began to walk her from the room.

“Molly, I'm sorry - I love Julian -”

“If you loved him, you _never_ would have done that!” Molly spat angrily, then as they reached the front door, she opened it up and shoved her out. Iris staggered and almost lost her balance. Molly hurled the empty gun into the driveway.

“_Pick up your shit and fuck off!”_ she said sharply, and then she slammed the door.

Molly stood there for a moment, leaning against the closed door as she took several deep breaths. Then she remembered Julian really hadn't needed this upset, and hurried back to the front room.

She found him wiping his eyes, and she gave him a hug and promised him everything would be okay. Then she said she would go and explain what had happened to Oswald. And she left the room again. Julian felt shattered by Iris, coming in here with a gun, just in case he couldn't be trusted. River had made her aware of the facts. She knew there was no threat, yet she had come here with a loaded gun because she didn't trust him... Julian got up and paused to look around the room at the family portraits :

_Oswald's happy family. _They didn't need him here, if Iris couldn't move on from the past, maybe it was time he realised just how futile his situation was. He would most likely not survive the surgery either. It wasn't fair, putting Oswald and Molly through any of this... Julian got up and went down the hallway. He paused by the door to snatch up his car keys. While Molly was in the study telling Oswald what had happened, he slipped out of the house and drove away, and no one knew he had gone – which was just the way he wanted it. He needed space, he needed to be alone. And he was yet to decide if he would ever come back...


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Molly had explained the situation to Oswald. He had shoved the paperwork aside saying Jax could handle it when he came off leave, and then limped quickly into the front room. They both looked about, saw no sign of Julian and Molly left the room, looking out the hallway.

“Julian?” she called, and only her own voice echoed back at her.

She turned to Oswald as worry clouded her gaze.

“He's probably upstairs...”

She noticed Oswald looked anxious, and she briefly glanced to the way he was leaning hard on his cane – he had got up a little too quickly and now his leg was giving him trouble.

“I'll go up to him, you sit down, I'll bring him back downstairs,” she said, then she hurried off up the stairs, calling his name again.

Molly had a feeling before she entered the room that something was _very_ wrong – and as she went inside, she knew she was right. He was not there. She ran to the window and looked out. His car was missing from the drive. It had been parked there untouched since his illness had returned, and now, it was gone...

“_Shit!”_ she said as she felt a flash of panic, then she hurried from the bedroom and back downstairs.

“Oswald!” she called, as he looked up and she hurried down to meet him, “He's gone!”

“What do you mean, gone? He's in the house, he's not going anywhere, he's having surgery to save his life in two day's time!”

Molly felt sick with worry.

“And I think that's why,” she said, “he was _so_ scared, Oswald! And Iris coming here with a gun, reminding him she can never trust him again, it was too much for him. We have to find him!”

Oswald took his phone from his pocket.

“I'll speak to him.”

He called his number. It rang several times, then Julian picked up.

“Come home, Julian,” Oswald said, “I realise you didn't need Iris coming over here and behaving like that – but you're sick and you should be at home. Two days from now you're having surgery, and then everything will get better, you'll never have to be afraid again.”

“_No!” _Julian sounded tearful, _“I'm not coming back, Oswald! Leave me alone, I just want to be by myself for a while!”_

“But Julian -”

The call cut off.

Molly looked at her husband as her heart raced and so did her thoughts. She didn't know what Julian was planning, he was scared and upset and anxious and now, he was all alone out there, _somewhere._..

“I think we should wait here and try and stay calm,” Oswald said, “He might think this over and come back. Where else would he go, Molly? He's sick and he needs his family. He knows he won't survive long without the treatment. Julian is smart enough to come to his senses and return.”

“I hope you're right,” Molly said, “If you're not – where would we look for him? He's got no where else to go!”

_They waited._

_The day went on, and there was no sign of Julian returning. _

As the sun sank lower and turned the garden a shade of mellow gold, Molly sat beside Oswald on a bench on the patio as Oswald sipped iced tea and then checked his watch yet again. His phone was close by on the table, but Julian had not called back.

“I keep thinking,” Oswald said suddenly, “What if he's driven his car off a cliff? Or he's floating in the Gotham river...”

Panic filled his eyes as his voice became tearful. He drew in a sharp breath and shook his head, closing his eyes as he wished his mind would not offer up the worst of outcomes.

“I love him so dearly, Molly. I tried to be a father to him, but he was always my baby cousin – that baby adopted by Mother's sister... if Mother had raised him, he would have been my baby brother. But he stood no chance of a happy life with an adopted father like Shepard!” he blinked away tears, “He doesn't know how brave he is. And he can't run away now, not when his only chance of a cure is two days away!”

Molly had been sitting there for a short while, watching as tension had rose silently in her husband, she had checked her own phone, pacing the patio as she considered calling Julian. But waiting, for now, seemed the best solution. They both knew how emotional and fragile he could be in times of crisis – and he had been through a terrifying ordeal, and she fully understood why the prospect of more surgery was bringing back his terrible memories of his incarceration at Ashecliffe.

_Of course Julian wanted to walk away from everything. _

_But deep down inside, he surely knew he couldn't do that..._

“Maybe I should try calling him soon,” she said, looking into Oswald's worried gaze as she spoke quietly, “He's very... _fond_… of me, I can tell. I don't know if it's a crush or if he just feels safe with me but, maybe he will talk to me.”

Oswald blinked away tears, finding his composure once more as he took hold of Molly's hand. He had planned to talk to her about certain things later, when their worries were over – but circumstance had just forced a new perspective...

“Julian will die if he doesn't have the surgery,” he reminded her, “And we could also lose him during the procedure. We don't know if he's going to make it, Molly. _And I really think it's time you stopped pretending not to feel as you do for him. I think you are both fond of each other, you always have been_. That doesn't mean you love me any less and I am confident our marriage is rock solid. But your feelings for Julian matter. _And I have a confession to make_.”

Molly stared at him. Her hand slipped from his grip as her heart raced and she drew in a shocked breath.

“I would NEVER cheat on you, Oswald Cobblepot! What a time to bring this up, Jesus Christ almighty! _You've done it again haven't you, Beth Crane, that fucking slut, you've fucked her again!_”

Oswald's jaw dropped as he looked at her with wide eyes.

“I...I..._No!_ Oh _no, _Molly! I have_ not_ cheated on you! Please, let me explain this another way: I am aware you would not cheat on me and I shall eternally regret my mistake with Beth! And Beth is in the past! Please allow me to clarify...” he loosened his tie.

Molly noticed he had broken into a sweat. She felt utterly confused.

_If this wasn't some terrible confession, what was it?_

Oswald took a deep breath.

“This isn't easy for me,” he said as Molly sat there, looking at him in confusion, “But just listen, allow me to lay this out as clearly as I can... When I was a boy, Mother's apartment was in a poor neighbourhood. And there was a brothel at the end of the road. Mother caught me looking at the..._ ladies of the night_...” Oswald briefly tensed, his face flushing, “And from that day on, she never stopped warning me about harlots and whores and brazen hussies who used men for what they could get, who used them for their money... Looking back, I think Mother knew I was perhaps slightly... _complicated_ in nature. She didn't want to see me wind up being used or taken advantage of emotionally or financially when I grew up... But I have always had a secret burning desire to think of the woman I love as MY brazen hussy...” he had been looking downward, his gaze darted nervously to Molly, and then away again as he continued:

“Molly...” he met her gaze as he reached for her hand, “I am getting older. I found love late in life. With you. And nothing changes that. But I want to fulfil my fantasies before I'm an old man._ I would like you to sleep with another man_.”

Molly's eyes widened.

“_You want me to what?”_

“Sleep with another man.” Oswald said, and suddenly, it was easier to open up to her as she stared at him, seeing a side of Oswald she had never realised had existed, because he had always held it back, until now.

Molly paused for a brief moment.

“You're not drunk?”

“No, my dear.”

“I just don't know why you would suddenly say that to me.”

He smiled as his eyes sparkled.

“It's always been there, Molly – I was just too closed up to say it! I don't want to be there to witness it, I just want to know there is another man in your life who succumbs to your charms...but of course, when you come to me, I will certainly show you the error of your ways.... _I will make love to you with passion you never knew I possessed!_”

Molly stared at him again.

“I'm not sleeping with your mate Ed!” she said sharply,”He's a sex addicted exhibitionist! I don't care if he's a big cock on the city council now, his cock is coming_ nowhere_ near me, he's had half of Gotham!”

Oswald couldn't help but smile on hearing that.

“He's probably had more like seventy percent of Gotham over the years – but I wasn't referring to Ed -”

But Molly hadn't heard him.

“_I'm not doing it!”_ she said, _“Oswald, he's cheated on his wife so many times! And everyone - EVERYONE – knows they had sex on the Gotham Bridge on his birthday three years ago! He fucked her up against the car in view of on oncoming traffic! Lee's got a nickname now! They call her Beep Beep because of all the cars that beeped their horns as they went past that night! I'm just glad Lee doesn't know people call her that, Doctor Beep Beep and her kinky husband! I can just imagine the giggles around the table at city meetings now Ed's taken over Julian's job... Kinky Nygma...representing your underworld!”_

Oswald gave a small, nervous laugh as he shook his head.

“Molly – I'm not talking about Ed! I'm very glad you wouldn't want to sleep with him. I recall a conversation we had a few years back about people we found attractive and you said, if you had to sleep with someone else you would choose Ed. Knowing of his reputation, I felt rather inadequate by comparison.”

“I was being sarcastic!” she exclaimed.

He laughed again, relief flooding his gaze as love shone through.

“I realise that now! And Molly, I'm not talking about Ed. He's nothing to do with this...” all trace of amusement left his gaze.

“Than what is this?” Molly asked.

“It's not just about my turn on, my excitement..... I'm older than you, Molly. And if I died through illness or accident or an underworld dispute, I would want to know someone was there for you, to love and cherish you for the rest of your days. Someone who deserves love as much as you do, someone who is no threat to our marriage, who would love you unconditionally as you love him.”

Molly looked intently at Oswald. Everything he had just said had come as a shock, it was unexpected but she was glad he was opening up to her about these fantasies and his hopes and fears for the future, but she was still confused as she asked a question.

“Who… who do you mean?” she asked cautiously.

He smiled.

“Someone who will love you forever and adore the children, too. Someone who I would be happy to share you with, who I love as a brother. _That someone is Julian._”

Molly had no words. Again, it struck her as crazy that she could take on Jeremiah Valeska and Bane and do it without flinching, yet when it came to matters of the heart, she crumbled... She gave a sob as joy shone in her gaze.

“_You... you really mean that? You want me and Julian to be like...”_

“Lovers,” he replied, “Yes, of course, but there will be rules. Absolute secrecy at all times. Remember, I faked paperwork to save him from Shepard by claiming he was my son. We know that is a lie, but the outside world does not. So, discretion at all times, Molly. And this will not take from our marriage, it will add to it! I get the thrill of my fantasy of my naughty wife, and you and Julian get to share some intimate times...and I have peace of mind, knowing if I died, he would be there for you. I don't doubt Julian will thank me for this when he finds out - but you don't have to cry, Molly!”

She gave another sob as she looked into his eyes, then she placed her hand on his cheek as she finally found the words and said them through tears of relief and gratitude.

“_You're the most amazing man! I love you so much!”_

“I love you too, Molly,” he said softly, and he pulled her close and kissed her deeply, then he drew back and gathered his thoughts, glancing to his phone as it stayed silent, then he spoke again.

“I am sincerely hoping Julian will respond to your call. I think he will tell you where he is. When he does, I want you to go to him. Bring him back tomorrow morning, Molly. Spend the night with him. Let him know he has a future to fight for – a future shared with you and I.”

Molly started to smile as she nodded. She paused to wipe her eyes, and then she took her phone from her pocket.

“I bet you're right!” she said as she stood up, “You're always right about so much when it comes to feelings, Oswald... please answer,” she added, whispering that request as she made the call and waited for Julian to pick up the phone.

Oswald leaned on his cane, getting up to join her as they stood there in the garden beneath the mellow shade of a sinking sun as Molly waited and Julian's phone kept ringing. She exchanged a glance with Oswald.

“He's not picking up.”

“Keep trying, I feel certain he will,” he told her.

Molly clung to his words, hoping he was right.

The phone was still ringing.

Suddenly it was answered.

“Hi...” Julian said quietly.

Molly exchanged another glance with Oswald. He looked at her warmly and nodded, waiting for her to convey the message.

“Julian, it's Molly... Listen, Oswald knows how you feel about me. And he's fine with it. He said we can see each other... an arrangement between the three three of us. He loves you so much, Julian! He said he wants to share me with you. He loves you like a brother and you're the only person he could share me with. And he wants to know you'll always be there, for us, for me, if anything ever happened to him. Are you listening, Julian? Say something?”

Julian hesitated.

“Put Oswald on the phone,” he replied, “I have to hear it from him.. this is.. wow... _really?_”

She laughed softly and handed the phone to Oswald.

“Molly is telling the truth, Julian,” he assured him, “This is not a trick.”

Julian's voice was tearful as he gave his reply.

“I... I don't know what to say! I love you both_ so_ much – and I tried to love Molly like a step mom but she wasn't my step mom and I knew how I felt, I always felt something for her.... _How did you know?_”

“I've seen it in your eyes for a long time,” Oswald said gently, “And I know you are the one person who would not break my marriage apart. Also I knew you both loved me too much to cheat behind my back. Now there doesn't have to be any pain or denial. We can _all _be happy. But you have to come home and you must have the treatment, or we will both lose you.”

Julian took in a shaky breath as he paused, trying to control his tears.

“I'll come home right now.”

“No, there's no need for that,” Oswald told him, “You can come home in the morning – with Molly.”

He handed the phone back to Molly as she and Oswald exchanged a look and smile that confirmed to Molly this was really happening. She wondered how they could come to such an agreement, how three people could be this happy.

_Was this much happiness allowed? _

_Yes, if Oswald Cobblepot decided it would be that way, it would happen... _Love shone in her gaze as she looked at Oswald and spoke on the phone to Julian:

“Tell me where you are, Julian. I'm coming to get you,” she said with a smile.

He drew in a slow breath, no longer tearful as he sounded excited but nervous as he spoke again.

“Shepard had many properties all over the country. He owned a mansion here in Gotham, it's called Beechwood House... It's about five miles South of the main highway, at the bottom of the hills, you can reach it by turning off at Snake Lane -”

“I know that place!” Molly exclaimed, “I've been past the gates many times when I take the long way around on the school run to avoid the traffic!”

“I used to stay there when I was a boy, when Shepard was in town on business or my adopted mother was visiting Gertrud,” he replied, “It's the memories of when I stayed in Gotham as a kid that pulled me back here. Memories of Gertrud and my cousin, who I called Uncle Oz. And this place is mine, too. Before Shepard died, even though I had no contact with him, he hadn't changed his will for years. The arrogant son of a bitch probably thought he would live forever! Most of his assets were seized because of criminal activity, but I still got the house in Gotham. I had the keys, so I thought I'd come up here, do some thinking, clear my head....”

Molly smiled as she looked to Oswald.

“I'm on my way,” she said, “See you soon!” then she ended the call.

“He's safe,” Oswald said as he smiled too, “I had a feeling in my heart about this...”

Molly suddenly felt awkward.

“So... I just go and...”

“And show Julian how much you love him,” Oswald told her, then he reached for her, pulling her close as he kissed her tenderly. As he pulled back, their gaze locked and Oswald spoke again, softly.

“Hold nothing back, Molly. Be sure to make tonight special. The day after tomorrow, we could lose him. Make the most of now. It could be all he has left.”

Molly nodded.

“I will,” she vowed, then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him again, then she turned away and hurried back into the house to grab her car keys.

Oswald watched her go inside, then he sat down again on the bench, resting his aching leg as he watched the sunset, as love shone in his gaze. He didn't doubt if Julian was in better health, the thought of what was about to happen would have him helplessly turned on awaiting Molly's return. But at this moment, all that mattered was unsaid feelings were about to be resolved. And for Julian and Molly, that was precious, because tomorrow wasn't promised and no one knew if Julian would live to see the future that he hoped to enjoy, the promise of a future that had given him back the will to carry on...

Over at Josh and Selina's place, they had just returned from visiting Jax and April, and as they walked in, Ivy was standing in the front room, the sunset escaping through the open door that led to the garden and catching in green shimmers on the short dress that hugged her curves. She had not noticed them come in as she paced to the door, the phone to her ear as she spoke again.

“What do you mean, you got it stuck in the Licker plant? You taught it to do _what_ with its tongue?” she paused, a hand on her hip as she listened in dismay, then she spoke again, “What else have you done while I've been away?”

Ivy paused.

“You took the truck? You went out there? I told you, stay at the house, it's safer! What happened?”

Josh and Selina exchanged a puzzled glance as they stood there, as Ivy stood with her back to them looking out to the garden as she spoke again.

“Of course they stared! How many times have I told you to stay in the forest, stay at the house? People are cruel, they _won't_ understand!”

There was another pause.

“Yes... I'm sure you do regret it. Just promise me you'll stay home. I'll be back soon, a few more days... and don't fool around with the Licker plant. I know you wish you could date someone, but you can't date the plant, it has its talents but they are not for you!” then her tone softened, “No, I'm not mad at you, Just be sensible, okay? See you soon.”

She ended the call and turned around. She saw Josh and Selina standing there and gave a gasp.

“What was that about?” Selina asked, looking at Ivy in confusion.

Ivy hesitated.

“I've kind of got a commitment back home. It doesn't affect us. I...look after someone.”

Selina stared at her.

“_Someone?_ You mean there's someone in your life who doesn't have roots and shoots who you actually give a shit about back home in your poison forest?”

There was a flash of annoyance in Ivy's gaze.

“Yes,” she replied, “And it's a long story.”

Selina looked hard at her as she stood there with her arms folded.

“This sounds relevant to us. Someone in your life who you never told us about?”

“Leave him out of this.”

Ivy ran her fingers through her long red hair, giving a weary sigh.

“He?” exclaimed Josh, “There's someone else in your life back home and you never thought to tell us?”

“It's_ not _like that!” Ivy said sharply.

“Then what is it like?” Selina demanded.

Ivy took in a slow breath. She looked from Selina to Josh and thought about their friendship and their bond and all they had shared... but this had been a secret kept for many years...

“Just believe me when I say it's not how it seems. I brought him up. A lab experiment back in the old days... I was forced to work on something,” she shook her head, “I was forced to do it, to use my skills for something I did not agree with... and it went wrong and then I was told to kill it.”

All trace of annoyance faded from Selina's eyes. Ivy was fighting back tears.

“What did you do?” Josh asked in a hushed voice.

Ivy sat down on the sofa and paused to wipe her eyes, then she looked up at the both and spoke again.

“I saved him! I had no choice...” she gave a quiet sob, _“It was a child! You might think all I care about is my plants but I can have maternal feelings for human kids! He was innocent, he had no choice in what those bastards did, he was a poor little freak...”_

Josh and Selina sat down either side of Ivy, Josh placing a hand on her arm as Selina stroked her hair and spoke softly to her.

“Ivy, when did this happen?”

She wiped her eyes.

“Years ago. They planned to accelerate his growth but they stopped the project at five years old because he was deformed. He used toddle about that lab like it was his home. They studied him for a while, then they told me I was free to go, but could I please kill the experiment first._ I killed them instead and I took him away!”_

Selina had just realised something.

“You didn't leave me because you didn't care. You had no choice! Someone was controlling you!”

Ivy nodded.

“I wasn't there when the city burned my plants. I'd already taken him off to the house in the forest to start a new life. It was bad enough I knew my plants were lost, but I'd seen terrible evil in that lab... what they wanted to do to that trusting little boy!”

Selina smiled as she squeezed her hand.

“But you saved him.”

Those words dried Ivy's tears.

“Yes,” she said, “And I raised him... he's an adult now, been a grown man for many years...” she frowned, “He's a dirty little guy! Desperate for a girlfriend... that's never going to happen...”

“Maybe you should bring him here to meet us?” Josh suggested, “He might be happier if he gets out of the forest and sees a bit of the city -”

“No!” Ivy said in alarm, “No, you don't understand... he's a freak. A real freak. People are cruel, they're bastards! He went out into the nearby town while I was away and he said people stared at him. Someone starting throwing garbage at the truck, calling him names... he drove away, he got home safely. He needs to be protected by me – _only_ me!”

Josh suddenly had an alarming thought.

“Is he a … _plant person?_”

Selina's eyes widened.

“You didn't... not half plant half human, oh my god!”

Ivy shot them both a look of disbelief.

“Of course not! I would _never_ blend plants with people, plants are far superior!”

“Then what is he?” Selina said in a hushed voice.

“A clone experiment that went wrong. And I don't want to talk about this any more. I have to be up early, I have to help River set up a lot of complicated equipment in the operating room. I don't need to talk about this, while I have the pressure of a risky procedure to deal with. We can talk about it before I go home. I need some air. I need to be with nature.”

Then Ivy got up and walked out into the garden, heading for the shady spot where vines were growing on the brick wall. Selina got up too and Josh stood up quickly, grabbing her hand as he pulled her back.

“I need to talk to her!” Selina said anxiously, “I never knew she had all this to handle alone!”

“Just leave it, drop the subject,” Josh advised, “We can talk to her later, when the time is right. If we don't pressure her, maybe she'll bring him to the city one day – it sounds like it could be good for him.”

Selina stood beside him, looking out through the open door as Ivy ran her hand over the vines.

“I just wish she'd told us sooner,” she replied, “She doesn't have to keep any secrets from us.”

Josh wrapped his arms around his wife as he looked into her eyes.

“And now she hasn't. She's told us. Just be patient with her, she's obviously had a lot to handle, and she's protective about this guy. Give her time and space, if she needs our help, she knows we're here for her – and her adopted son.”

Selina nodded, then she drew him close as they embraced as outside, Ivy was feeling much calmer, her senses soothed as she surrounded herself with the plants that made her think of home.

Molly arrived at the elegant mansion to find the gates open. The sun was sinking out of sight as twilight drew in, casting a sweet, light shade of dusk over the house of red brick with its wide windows and elegant gables. She got out of the car and walked up the steps to find the front door was ajar. She smiled, with every beat of her heart knowing nothing had ever felt so right. Julian was expecting her, and shy as ever, had left the door open and waited inside...

She went into a hallway with old oak panels on the wall. As she closed the door behind her, she smiled, knowing this place:

_This was the place from her dream, with its fine old hallways..._

And true to Ivy's prediction, the inner wolf was coming alive as Molly trusted her senses, making her way quietly up the corridor. Here was in part shadow, some lights were on, giving off a soft glow, but she stuck to the shadows and turned a corner to see Julian ahead of her, he didn't look back as he walked slowly towards a sweeping staircase lined with a red carpet. His fingertips trailed the oak panelled walls as he made his way towards the stairs, he was perhaps lost in thoughts of the past as she wondered:  
_Did he know she was there?_

_Did he sense her, watching him from the shadows?_

As Julian reached the top of the stairs, Molly paused for a moment, then made her way up slowly, green eyes set on the top of the staircase. On reaching the top she saw him walk into a bedroom further down the hall. She followed close behind, reaching the door left ajar as she looked through the gap.

Julian wasn't aware Molly had entered the house. His heart had been racing since that call that had changed everything. He had dared to embrace hope as a flood of emotion had poured out along with tears, and now he had found new strength to face tomorrow as he stood in front of the mirror, deciding the

future was yet to be here and even if tonight was all they had, even if this was his last chance to live out what had until now, been a dream he had thought impossible.

He stood before a full length mirror and took off his shirt, then he looked at his reflection and smirked as the thought ran through his head:

_I look pretty good for a dying man... _

He stripped off the rest of his clothing and walked naked to the bathroom and turned on the shower, unaware he was being watched …

Molly was standing in the hallway, her back against the wall, hidden by shadow as the light from the room beyond caught on her green gaze as she smiled. The bathroom door was wide open, she could see him from where she stood, he was taking a shower before he met with her, and she didn't want to stop him, knowing shy Julian would want to feel at his best when he saw her...

She watched the water run off his toned body, saw him turn off the shower and reach for a towel. He dried his hair first, then paused to look into the mirror, but he didn't think to look behind him, to the bedroom and the doorway and into the shadows, he was running his fingers through his hair, looking at it closely. Anxious about losing it when the time came for the surgery.

Molly's heart ached as much as her arms ached to hold him. She watched as he dried himself and then left the room and returned to the bedroom. He turned the bedside lamp down low, then picked up his discarded clothing and placed it over the back of a chair near the dresser. He went back to the bed and turned back the covers, then he smoothed down pillows and as he stood there with his back turned, Molly kicked off her shoes and padded into the bedroom with the stealth of a wolf...

As she reached for him, he turned around as surprise registered in his gaze. She gently pushed him back and he laid down on the bed as she joined him and slid her arms over his shoulders, pausing to place a kiss on his chest, over his heart before claiming his mouth with a kiss. He was shaking as he held her, and as she sat up and peeled off her vest, he was breathing harder, pupils dilating at the sight of her breasts exposed.

“I've longed for this as much as you have, my darling,” she said softly as she unzipped her jeans and tugged them down along with her underwear. She briefly sat up again to let her clothing fall to the floor, then she laid beside him, pulling his close as he embraced her again, still with a look of surprise and nervousness on his face.

“Molly...” he said as his voice trembled, “I think you should know, I'm not like other guys... five years in the asylum fucked me up... I'm kinky...”

“Oh, I know,” she said as she started to smile, holding him close as their eyes met, “I've been in the playroom – I've seen it!”

“And I can't be like Oswald... I can't take the lead and make love to you like he does!”

Surprise registered in her eyes.

“Who said Oswald was dominant?”

“He's not?”

Molly ran her fingers through his hair as she felt his body warm and trembling against hers. Julian ran his hand over her shoulder and down her arm as he let his gaze wander over her body, and then he looked into her eyes again.

“_I'm really nervous. I hope I don't come too quick, if I do, I'm sorry. I was going to jerk off before you got here so I lasted longer but I didn't get the chance. And do... do you like it like this? I shave my cock...”_

He turned over as Molly giggled as she ran her hand gently over his smooth flesh, carefully avoiding brushing up against his solid erection as he lay there trembling, a mess of nerves and excitement.

“Oh sweetheart, calm down!” she said fondly, “I love you so much!”

“_I love you too!” _

He had said that with wide eyes, then as she stroked his groin again he gave a gasp.

“Calm down!” Molly said again as she turned, rolling on top of him as she pressed the heat of her sex against his erection. He reached up, running his fingers through her hair.

“_You can take control of me... be rough if you want to... I like to be dominated completely!”_

Molly's gaze locked with his as she placed her hand on his cheek and spoke softly to him.

“I know exactly what to do with you, Julian. I'll take good care of you when you come home after the surgery. Forget everything Iris ever did for you, Nurse Molly has her_ own_ ideas!”

Julian gave a gasp, it was all he could do as she lowered herself down firmly on to his cock. He clung to her tightly as he panted, struggling to hold back from losing control.

“It's okay, sweetheart,” Molly said softly, and as she kissed him she moved slowly and carefully, stroking his hair as he returned her kisses.

As his kisses grew deeper and his nerves began to calm, he thrust with her, then Molly whispered softly to him.

“_You can fuck me now, Julian. Get on top and make love to me, that's an order...”_

She rolled off him and lay there as he reached for her, pulling her into his arms as his gaze met hers and his breath came short and sharp with every thrust.

“_Am I pleasing you? Is it good enough?” _he panted.

“_Yes!”_ she gasped, clinging to him harder, _“Yes, Julian, it's perfect!”_

He thrust into her again. She could tell he was missing his fetishes as he stayed hard, but not yet close to the edge. There was a look of frustration in his eyes.

“_I can't...”_

“_Yes you can...” _she whispered,_ “Think about later, when you're better. All the things I'll do to you.”_

“_Oh god yes! Tie me up!”_

“_I'll tie you up very well,” _she said breathlessly,_ “In that special room of yours, use all those toys and those nasty looking instruments on you...”_

“_Fuck, yes!”_

“_I'll hurt you and force you to come!”_

“_Molly!”_

He cried her name sharply then separated from her, turning on his back as he reached for his cock. Molly got there first, gripping it firmly. As she jerked him hard he hit orgasm, pumping spurts of come as he gave a low cry of release. As the last of his orgasm ran down her hand, his body relaxed as he lay there recovering. His face was flushed and he was sweating heavily as the breeze shifted the curtain at the window, cooling their flesh with the evening air.

“Thank you... May I hold you?”

“You don't have to ask,” Molly said softly as she shifted closer and Julian held her tightly with his head against her shoulder.

“I do. I want your permission every time, for everything. I love you.”

Molly smiled as she looked into his eyes.

“I'll get used to this,” she told him, “It's all new to me, a man as submissive as you are... but I love you, Julian. And it's okay, you can ask if you want to.”

He closed his eyes as he breathed a sigh.

“This is wonderful. Just being here with you, just laying beside you is amazing... I never thought this would happen. I didn't think I'd have a dream come true before I died.”

“Don't say that!” Molly told him.

As she stroked his hair, he opened his eyes and met her gaze.

“But I might die,” he reminded her, “I've spent so long fearing this. Now I've accepted it. I'll either come through this or I won't. I want to live but maybe that's hoping for too much.”

“Don't talk like that!” Molly said again.

Julian sat up, shifting the pillows back as he relaxed in bed. He smiled as he gave a shrug.

“It's been a good life. It's been a fucking wonderful life now this has happened! And I want to share the future you and Oswald want to have with me. But I know it might not happen, Molly. This is me being realistic, I'm not running away any more.”

For a moment he fell silent and Molly said nothing as she looked into his eyes, then as she spoke, emotion filled her voice as she held back on crying, deciding from this moment, she would do all she could to be strong for Julian. She had to start believing he would survive, because he had little trust in his own ability to get through it, and faith had to start somewhere.

“We need to make a plan,” she told him, “Tomorrow, we go home.”

“And I give Oswald the biggest hug he's ever had! I need to thank him, I don't think even he knows what he's done for me – for us! I love him so much!”

“So do I,” Molly replied, “But we need to make more plans than going home and hugging Oswald. I want you to spend the day with him tomorrow, and we will both be with you when you go to the clinic the day after. We won't leave until you've come through the procedure, Julian. When you wake up, we will both be there for you. Did you want to speak to the kids before you have the surgery?”

He paused for thought as they lay together, thinking on her question.

“No, I don't want them to worry, just tell them about it when they get back from Ireland. I should be recovering by then... Will you still want me if I get complications? River said some damage will be expected... What if it's really bad? I don't expect you to look after me – I mean, don't feel obliged to do it, if I'm not going to get better.”

Molly felt an ache deep in her heart as he said that.

“Don't you ever say that again!” she told him, “Whatever the outcome, I will still be here for you, as I am now! Oswald will be there for you, too! We both love you, Julian!”

He gave a sigh. The look in his eyes said he was resigned to his fate. He had no optimism, not really, not when he knew the dangers involved.

“I've come through a lot, Molly. My luck will run out eventually. There won't be any more hope.”

“I don't believe that,” Molly said softly, and before he could speak again, she silenced him with a deep and lasting kiss.

“Now,” she whispered as she drew back, “Let's go to sleep, Julian. We're going home in the morning.”

She turned out the light.

Julian shifted closer to her.

“Will you hold me all night?”

“Of course.”

She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer.

“And not let go all night?”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“Promise?”

“Yes!” Molly replied, “Now go to sleep!”

She kissed him again and he snuggled close to her, curled under the covers with his head on her shoulder, clinging on afraid to let go as he closed his eyes and tried to shut out the fears that threatened to steal away his rest. Molly held him all night long. He felt safe in her arms as he slept and she woke frequently, missing Oswald, then remembering why she was here and what had changed, and placing gentle kisses softly in Julian's hair as he breathed deeply, taking care not to wake him.

_Morning came around too soon. _

Molly woke to find Julian was already up and dressed and ready to leave. He was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, watching her as she slept and as she woke, he smiled.

“Good morning Molly,” he said, looking at her with devotion in his eyes, devotion and gratitude as she wondered if he had ever looked at Iris in quite the same way. She had seen a great deal of love in his gaze, but this seemed deeper, different... And she felt it too. But her heart also ached for home and for Oswald. She needed to return to his side. She sat up and smiled back at Julian as their gaze lingered on one another, then she got out of bed.

“We have to go home,” she reminded him.

“I'm fine with that,” he replied quietly, then Molly left the room and turned on the shower.

Before they left the house, Molly called Oswald. He answered right away, and just how bright and cheerful he sounded came as a surprise and made her smile.

“Good morning Molly!” he said warmly as in the background, she heard him limp through to the kitchen as the door made a familiar creak as he opened it, “I trust you had a wonderful night?”

“I did, yes. Do you want to me to..._ tell _you about it?”

“Did you make love to Julian?”

“_Absolutely.”_

Oswald gave a slow, deep sigh.

“_Oh, Molly, you bad girl... you filthy hussy... you have no idea how badly I want to show you the error of your ways! But I shall restrain myself for now, at least until after tomorrow when Julian is through the worst...I'm trying not to be turned on by the thought of what you've done...That is certainly a challenge!”_

Molly laughed softly.

“Are you sure I'm speaking to my Oswald? You sound like a changed man.”

“I feel liberated!” he declared, “A new door has opened... a very _exciting_ door! Now please, put Julian on the phone.”

“Okay my love,” she replied, and she passed the phone to Julian.

”Good morning, how are you today?” Oswald asked warmly.

Julian laughed nervously as he exchanged a glance with Molly, who smiled. Shy Julian didn't know what to say after last night...

“I'm okay, thanks... And thank you so much for our... arrangement. It's wonderful, it's something I never thought would be possible.”

“And you had better make sure you come home this morning,” Oswald told him, “because I want to make sure you get lots of rest before the surgery. And I don't want to hear any of that negative talk about not making it, or something going wrong! You will be fine, have you got that?”

Julian smiled, feeling instant reassurance as if Oswald's commanding voice had the power to lend him strength he never knew he had...

“Yes, Oswald, if you say so, I believe it! After last night I think anything could be possible!”

“Hurry home,” Oswald replied, “I've missed you both very much.”

They drove home in silence. Molly knew Julian's thoughts had turned to tomorrow and all he had to face. She said nothing as she reached over, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. When they reached home, the door was open and Oswald was waiting outside, looking his usual immaculate self in a dark suit as he leaned on his cane.

Julian got out of the car first and hurried over to him, Molly looked on as they stood together. Julian was thanking him, and getting emotional. Oswald placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking softly to him. Then Julian got tearful and Oswald hugged him, pausing to pat his back. Molly saw them exchange a smile before Julian went in the house, then Molly got out of the car, closed the door behind her and walked over to Oswald, taking her time, with a smile on her face. He was looking at her with a fire of lust in his eyes that he was struggling to control as she reached him and he put an arm around her, surprising her as he drew her close with a sharp tug.

“_My brazen hussy returns at last...”_ he said in voice husky with arousal.

Their gaze locked as they exchanged a smile.

“I most certainly have, my love,” Molly replied.

Oswald pulled her close and as they kissed, neither wanted to stop, but then Oswald pulled back and let go, instantly composing himself.

“As much as I would love to take you upstairs and make love to you, we must remember the situation at hand,” he told her, “Let's go inside and spend time with Julian. He's never needed our support as much as he does now.”

Molly nodded in agreement, then they went back to the house, hand in hand. The rest of the day would be spent together, simply spending time with Julian, as Oswald talked to him about the future, now and then reminding him he had nothing to fear when he saw that worried look return to his gaze. Molly tried to stay as optimistic as Oswald, even though she knew her husband was just as afraid for Julian as she was.

_Everything rested on the outcome tomorrow._

_All they could do now was hold on to hope... _


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

When morning arrived, even the events of the day before did nothing to wipe out the heavy worry that hung over the family. The evening before, River had stopped by to talk to Julian, who had been quiet and clearly anxious as she had talked him through the procedure. He had gone to bed early, but later, when Molly had returned from the bathroom, she had been surprised to see Oswald in bed, looking at her apologetically as Julian lay curled on top of the covers beside him, sleeping deeply.

“He said he's scared. He wanted to stay with me,” he said.

Molly got into bed, pausing to throw the top blanket over Julian, and despite the warmth of the evening, he had shivered as he slept on. Oswald had told her Julian had cried himself to sleep...

In the morning, he was not sleeping in the middle of the bed. Molly had got up first, looked quietly into his room and found him sleeping in his own bed once more. She didn't wake him, leaving him to spend a final couple of hours resting peacefully before he woke up to face the most uncertain day of his life.

Oswald got up early to grab some breakfast, he didn't feel like eating but knew he needed to and Julian couldn't eat because of the surgery and he knew he would feel bad about having breakfast in front of him. Molly came downstairs soon after, and as she had breakfast with her husband, she had the laptop open, chatting to the kids as usual, and she smiled as Cain said he was looking forward to coming home. Molly said nothing about Julian's surgery, not wanting to worry the kids. Then Julian joined them, he stood there in the kitchen just as Oswald was finishing his tea and one glance told Molly and Oswald all they needed to know – he was terrified.

“What time do we have to leave?” he said in a hushed voice.

“Soon, and it's okay, we're here for you,” Molly reminded him.

Julian had spent the next hour sitting in the front room as Molly and Oswald sat with him, Molly had stroked his hair as he rested his head on her shoulder. Oswald had held his shaking hand as he gave him some meds River had left the day before to help calm his nerves. It started to kick in by the time they were ready to leave, as they got into the car, Julian closed his eyes and said he felt tired.

“And I don't want to go,” he added.

Oswald started the car and they drove away from the house.

Molly was sure if she found the next hour difficult, it was much worse for Oswald. Despite the fact that Julian had clung to her hand and not wanted to let go, it was Oswald who had to step in and calm him down as he lay on a bed in a treatment room, terrified as River prepared to sedate him.

“It's okay,” Oswald reminded him, “I'm here and so is Molly.”

Julian was still dressed. River had not yet shaved his head for fear of triggering flashbacks to his ordeal at the asylum. Nothing would be done until he was sedated. He had looked up at River, reminding her of something he needed to know she would not forget.

“The last procedure was agony... I _don't_ want to feel like that when I wake up, I want morphine.”

“I know that,” River replied, “It's okay, Julian, I won't let you be in pain.”

Julian drew in a breath and spoke again.

“If I die, it's not your fault. Don't blame yourself, River.”

“You won't die!” River said, wishing she felt as sure as she had sounded, “I happen to be a very skilled doctor!”

“I know that,” he replied, then he kept a tight grip on Molly and Oswald's hands, “I love you,” he said tearfully as he looked to Molly, and then to Oswald.

“We love you too,” Oswald reminded him.

“It's going to be okay,” Molly said again.

Then River finally got the line in his arm and as the drugs hit his bloodstream, Julian closed his eyes.

“You can leave him with me now,” she told them.

Oswald put his arm around Molly and they left the room, went up the corridor and sat together in a comfortable waiting room... Molly wanted to cry. She saw tears in Oswald's eyes and held it back.

_They waited together for over two hours. _

_River didn't return._

Oswald sat close to Molly, holding her hand as the time crawled by.

“Molly,” he suddenly said, “Promise me, no matter how it turns out, you won't ever reject -”

“I would_ never_ push you away!” she exclaimed as hurt registered in her eyes, “Oswald, you're my husband!”

He stared at her for a moment.

“Not me, I meant Julian! I know you would never push me away, I meant, l please don't reject him if this goes wrong, if the damage is worse than River estimated. Even if he can't love you back. Always make him feel like a man, Molly. Don't make him feel pitied or helpless.”

“Of course!”

Oswald breathed a relieved sigh.

“Yes, I should have known better than to think you would change your mind. I'm glad you won't, Molly. He needs both of us, in different ways. He always will.”

“I know that,” Molly replied softly, and as she held Oswald's hand in her grip, she brought it to her lips and kissed it, then she rested leaning back in the soft chair as she closed her eyes, feeling worn out from the roller coaster of emotion the past few days had been. She fell asleep, and Oswald let her sleep on, even after River returned and he got up and left the waiting room and went outside to speak with her...

Molly was somewhere between dreaming and waking. Or maybe she was dreaming, and all of her fears had wrapped around her thoughts and pulled up the past to frighten her:

_There was only one thing that could scare her. _

_The same thing that gave her flashbacks and haunted her memory._

_How it had all started, ten years before._

_She would never get over it, she had easily pulled up the guts and fire to go off and track down Oswald's captor and beat him black and blue to save the man she loved. _

_That had been ten years, one marriage and three kids ago._

_And still the thought of Jeremiah struck terror into her heart, as she recalled finding Oswald badly injured, barely alive because of what that bastard had done to him..._

And as her phone rang, she sat up and opened her eyes, blinking away sleep as the waiting room seemed shadowed in mist. Molly picked up her phone.

The call was from an unknown number. Molly answered the call as she walked out of the room and into the empty corridor.

“Hello?” she said, looking about as the corridor became lost in mist.

The phone line crackled on the other end of the call.

Then the mist cleared and she gave a gasp:

_There it was, that old house in the woods she had not seen for a decade. _

_Jeremiah Velaska stood over two deep holes in the ground and he looked older and there was an evil glint in his eyes. As he spoke she saw his lips move but his voice came though loud and clear on the phone:_

“_I'm coming back for your husband, Molly. And this time I'm digging TWO graves!” _

Molly gave a loud gasp as she sat up sharply. She slipped from the chair as her phone hit the carpet then she did too, and she grabbed her phone, hands shaking as she hit a button to see the last caller, but realised she had just wiped her call list in error. She took a shaken breath, staggered to her feet and swept a hand through her hair, pushing it from her face. The room was clear, there was no mist. And Oswald and River were standing in the doorway looking at her in alarm. She could see the corridor behind them.

_No house in the woods._

_No Jeremiah..._

“Molly, are you okay?” Oswald said anxiously as he limped closer, putting an arm around her as she nodded.

“Bad dream, that's all...”

River was staring at her, Molly was breaking into a cold sweat and she was shaking.

“Maybe you need to sit down,” she suggested, “It's been a stressful time for all of us.”

“I'm fine,” Molly replied quickly, “How's Julian, is he okay?”

River was relieved the procedure was over. She had worked with Ivy to load up almost eighty microscopic needles, then she had used complicated machinery to drill tiny holes in the skull of her patient and inject his brain with the formula that had worked from the top downward, wiping out the scar tissue. The pathways had started to fire up again, and were eighty percent functional. She had carried out this risky procedure while trying _not_ to think about the fact that the patient on the table was her brother...

“Julian made it,” she told her, “he came through the surgery with no complications. He's going to be staying here for the next two days to rest, and I have to be sure he won't react to the treatment. If he does, I have meds lined up to counteract the side effects but so far, he's doing well. It's going to take time for the pathways to recover completely and he will have a degree of disability - but I think it's limited to the same physical difficulties he had after he came out of the asylum – mainly, he might have problems walking. But he's awake now and very sedated, I've got him on pain relief because his head is going to hurt a great deal for the next few days. But he doesn't need life support or the complete sedation I expected. He's already coming back from this.”

River had finished explaining. Molly looked at her, then to Oswald, who smiled as joy shone in his gaze.

“He's cured, Molly!”

She nodded, taking in those words as relief washed over her like a tsunami. Then she whispered _Thank you_ and hugged River. By the time she let go and hugged Oswald, she was in tears. Oswald kissed her and gave her a squeeze and whispered again, _He's okay, _and Molly was smiling as she let go of him. River said they could sit with him for a while, and as Molly walked hand in hand with Oswald up the corridor and River explained what to expect, Molly was still feeling relieved, so relieved she forgot about her nightmare, at least for now...

As she walked into the room, Molly was surprised to see Julian did not look nearly as bad as it had sounded when River had explained. He had a bruise below his hairline where heavy equipment has locked him into position for the treatment. His head was shaved and dotted with tiny pin pricks and each one was starting to bruise, but the wounds seemed so minimal, what she noticed most was the many exposed scars on his head – old scars, the legacy of his time in the asylum. Julian slowly opened his eyes and as he saw Molly at his bedside, he weakly held her hand. Then Oswald joined her and he leaned over Julian, kissing his cheek.

“You made it and you're cured,” he said softly.

Joy shone in Julian's gaze.

“I'm going to be okay!”

“Yes, you are!” Oswald told him, and he briefly leaned close again, pressing his cheek against Julian's before shifting back once more.

“I'm not in pain,” Julian whispered as he slowly looked from Oswald to Molly, “I'm okay...”

Julian was high on pain relief, but clearly, he was mentally undamaged. That was a huge relief, and as he turned her hand over, Molly watched as Julian slowly began to trace a shape in her palm. He stroked his fingertip in the shape of a heart and looked up at her.

“I love you too!” she said, holding back tears and she leaned over him and they shared a brief kiss.

Oswald was still smiling.

“You'll have plenty of time for that when you're better!” he said, and Julian laughed.

“My naughty wife is _so_ tempting!” he added playfully.

Molly shot him a warning look and Oswald glanced back, but River had left the room.

“Careful!” she reminded him.

Oswald chuckled.

“I'm so happy I almost revealed our secret! I must take more care!”

“I love you both,” Julian said as he closed his eyes again.

“And we love you very much. You're so brave, far more than I would have been!” Oswald admitted, “I was sick when I was held in Blackgate a few years back and I didn't have half your courage, Julian!”

“I'm just glad it's over,” he murmured, and then he slipped back into a deep sleep.

Molly and Oswald stayed at his beside for another hour, and then, assured by River that he would be in safe hands as he recovered they went home, relieved the nightmare was over at last.

Much later, as the evening shadows fell over Gotham, in the newly built street where Josh and Selina lived, Ivy was in the mood for celebration.

Josh had not realised exactly what that meant by that until she had led him over to the vines that grew in shade at the back of the garden, in the secluded part that was plunged into shadow as dusk fell...

She had touched those vines, and something had flowed from her, as they stretched out and wrapped about his arms, dragging him to the ground as they held him pinned there. His cock had been freed quickly by her eager hands as she got to work on him, sliding her hand up and down his shift as something beneath him slithered its way into his ass and felt _very_ familiar indeed. He wanted to gasp and cry out because it was all too much, but this was a quiet neighbourhood and they knew it. Selina giggled as she saw the look in his eyes, begging for release as she shook her head and lowered her pussy on to his face.

“Oh no,” she said teasingly, “Ivy's waking the garden in her own special way for our own private party! _Get licking!_”

The taste of her pussy was sticky on his face as he lapped at her as she thrust against him as the vines held him there. Ivy was guiding something back into his ass and he knew it was no sex toy, he could feel it flickering inside him, growing wider as it tasted his arousal. Then he heard the creak of roots and as Selina's hips shifted back as she gave a gasp, he saw it, there was a Licker plant, a big one, not big enough for the soil yet, but growing bigger by the minute as its flower head pushed against him softly and that muscular tongue grew wider, stretching his ass as it tasted him deeply.

“_Please let me come!”_

“_Not before me!” _Selina said, and pushed her body against him, all he could taste was wet pussy as the plant invaded his ass and Ivy wickedly stroked his cock slowly, as if she had a sixth sense for when it would be too much, she knew how to force him to wait... As her hips shook and she gave a low moan, Josh lapped at her firmly, sending her over the edge as she came on his face with a gush that smothered him.

“_Oh yes, that's what I was waiting for...” _Ivy murmured, and then she jerked him harder.

Josh tried to thrust upward to hasten the orgasm, but the vines held him firmly in place, as if knowing Ivy's will.

“And..._ now _you can come....” she said in a low voice.

Her touch was like electricity through his cock as he came in strong spurts, gasping as Selina climbed off him, the vines still held him and the come was still flowing and they were both watching, standing there, watching him come helplessly and the thought of it seemed to intensify the orgasm as the last drop spilled from the head of his cock and he slumped exhausted.

“Hey, that's enough!” Ivy said sharply, and as the wide tongue slid out of his ass, Selina smiled at the sight of his hole, barely able to close.

“Good thing Ivy brought that potted Licker with her, “ she said as the roots creaked and the plant sat back in its pot.

Its tongue shot out, lashing Josh on the belly as it cleaned off his semen with a single, greedy swipe that made Ivy and Selina giggle. The tongue slid back quickly into the plant as it gurgled and sucked and then fell still. It had grown several inches in the time they had fooled around, and now it was resting. Ivy picked it up, needing both hands as it had gained weight, too.

“I think you'll be ready for the soil when we get back,” she said, and the plant visibly swallowed as Selina giggled again.

“I'm surprised it didn't belch! I swear it gargles come!”

“It does gargle before it swallows,” Ivy confirmed as she stood there holding the sleeping plant, “I'm going to put this back in the house, then I'm going to open a bottle of wine. I'm still in the mood to celebrate! I saved a human today, and it actually feels good – well, only because it's Julian. I like that guy, he's nice and he had no control over what was done to him in that asylum. Proving people _are _mostly evil...”

Then she carried the plant off back towards the house. Selina tidied her clothing as the vines that had loosened slid back, releasing Josh. He reached for his underwear but Selina snatched it up.

“Come and get it!” she said with a giggle.

Josh got up, reaching in vain for his underwear as she held it beyond his reach and waved it in the air. It was going to be a very quick dash back out of the shadows and back to the house, if he wanted to do it without the risk of neighbours spotting him run naked across the lawn...

“Please, Selina!”

“No!” she said playfully as amusement danced in her eyes,“Come and get it!”

Then she ran across the lawn and back to the house. Josh looked over at the open doorway, where light spilled out from within. Ivy and Selina were standing there giggling as Ivy passed her a glass of wine.

“_Selina!”_ Josh exclaimed, then he glanced about to neighbouring houses, saw no lights on and ran fast, naked across the lawn as Ivy and Selina laughed.

Evening at the mansion had seen Oswald impatient to take Molly to bed. Now Julian was recovering, his worries had faded out and as he led her into the bedroom she saw a shine in his eyes she had never seen before, and when he pushed her down on the bed and then grabbed at her hips, tugging her sharply towards him, she gave a gasp as she felt his cock rock solid as he pushed it against her.

“Feel _that_, my dear? _You know how to drive a man wild, my brazen hussy wife!_”

Molly was filled with awe at the way Oswald, despite his weak leg, was so quick to tug her clothing off and spread her legs. He pushed two fingers deep inside her as she thrust her hips and gave a moan of pleasure.

“Soaking wet already...” he said teasingly, “Of course you are... my _naughty_ wife!”

His belt flew open, then he popped the buttons on his pants and hurriedly tugged them down. Then she felt the weight of her chubby Penguin on top of her as he thrust in hard. Oswald was breathing heavily, whispering to her as he ran his fingers through her hair, fucking her with such enthusiasm the bed was creaking.

“Oswald... your leg....”

“_Fuck my leg!”_ he said as excitement shone in his gaze.

He moved against her quickly as she reached for him, running her hands over his chest as his open shirt grew damp with sweat.

“_This is what a big cock feels like!” _he said breathlessly, _“My cock...I am your husband, the man who should be fucking you my filthy slut wife... Oh god, Molly... Molly!”_

She reached for him as he lost all strength at the moment of orgasm and she held him tightly, covering his mouth with a kiss as he pumped in throbs warm and fast inside her. Then Oswald raised his head, his face was flushed and his spiked hair was falling flat over his eyes as he looked at her with a sparkle in his gaze.

“I apologise... for calling you a slut... but it made me _come!_”

Molly giggled as he separated from her and they lay side by side on the bed, the sheets creased from their lovemaking.

“I have never seen you let go like that before!” she told him adoringly as she swept his hair from his eyes.

Oswald smiled proudly.

“I told you Molly, I feel liberated!” he said proudly, “Liberated and adventurous... and wild, at last!”

Molly felt as if her happiness was complete as she saw the look in his eyes. Oswald was finding out, late in life, that he could live out his fantasies – and he was so much happier for it. He was experiencing freedom in a way he had never dared before.

“I love you so much, Oswald.”

“I love too, my dear.”

As Oswald lay beside her, he trailed his fingers through her hair, then he recalled something.

“What was that about earlier, Molly? You said you had a bad dream when you fell asleep in the waiting room?”

It came flooding back and she gave a heavy sigh. After finding out Julian was cured and recovering, then coming home to lovemaking with Oswald, she had let that horrible dream slip her mind, but now it came rushing back with clarity.

“It's stupid, I know but...I had a dream Jeremiah called me. And then I was standing outside that house in the woods, where he took you when he abducted you... and he said he was coming for you and this time he was digging two graves...”

Oswald saw a flash of fear in his wife's eyes. Fear was a rare thing for Molly to feel, unless she was worried about those she loved. The likes of Jeremiah and even Bane had not frightened her – but what Jeremiah had done to him, that had stayed with her, and he knew it.

“Molly,” he said softly as he looked into her eyes, “Jeremiah is dead. We haven't heard of him in the city ever since I put lead in his guts and he was crawling for the door after he took River hostage! That day, he fell and so did his men. He's gone.”

“I know that,” Molly said as she ran her hand down to his broad hip and shifted closer, “But it was so real, Oswald.”

He smiled, speaking again as he cancelled out her fears.

“You were very worried about Julian. You were afraid of losing him - like you were once afraid of losing me. So you had a nightmare. That's all it was!”

She smiled too. Oswald had put it in perspective.

“So Jeremiah Velaska is my dream demon, my Freddy Krueger?”

“Apparently so!” Oswald said, laughing it off, “Forget about it, Molly! It was just a bad dream. And Julian is cured and will be coming home very soon. He's going to need rest, and it will take time for him to recover – but we haven't lost him. There's nothing left to fear.”

Molly slid her arms around him, resting her head against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart as she settled down to sleep. _Yes, there was nothing left to fear, Julian was coming home, he was going to be okay..._ That was her last thought as she slid into a deep sleep, and this time, there were no nightmares to trouble her.

Oswald was right, their worries were over.

Three days after the surgery, Julian came home. He would spend a while recovering from the procedure, River had reminded them that so far, the lasting damage seemed to be limited to slight paralysis. She didn't know if he would walk again, but she was hopeful, although it would take time. Julian was glad to be home again, in his own bed, and provided with pills to ease the pain as the bruises to his head ached even with contact to his pillow. But he was happy to know he was cured, and that he would never have to fear the legacy of the experiments at Ashecliffe returning to haunt him again. Oswald had watched as Molly helped to make him comfortable, then Julian had settled down to have a deep sleep. Oswald was sure he would get stronger quickly, with every passing day he had seen rapid improvement. And soon, the kids were coming home, Kane was bringing them back from Ireland. And Molly's bad dream did not return...

By the end of the week, Ivy was packed up and ready to leave. Her bags, and the Licker plant, were in the car. And she had gone back into the house and sat down in the front room with a sad look on her face as she looked to Selina and Josh. Selina had been up early that morning, helping her pack. Josh had got up a short while later, and after breakfast, after she had packed her stuff into the car, they had sat down together in the front room, both knowing they would miss the fun and excitement Ivy had brought to their lives.

“I'll come back soon,” she said hopefully, “I have to spend a few weeks with the plants... they don't all sustain alone without me, not for long.. they do need me back. And so does he....”

She fell silent, lost in her own thoughts as Josh and Selina exchanged a glance.

“We would like to meet him,” Selina said with a smile.

“Yes, we do want you to bring him here, to get to know us, you don't have to explain – just say we're good friends of yours,” Josh added.

Ivy frowned as she shook her head.

“No, no. He's _so_ much better off at home.”

“But he's an adult and it sounds like he needs some independence,” Selina said, and Josh discreetly shifted his hand a fraction on the sofa, tapping her hand as she glanced at him and he looked at her, in that second reminding her of their conversation when Ivy was out of the room : _Don't push her on this, give her time..._

Ivy left soon after, but not before she had hugged Selina and Josh and said again she would be back in a few weeks. Then she drove away in her car, heading out of Gotham as she left behind the two people who had reminded her that sometimes, humans were more than okay. Sometimes it was easy to love them.

No, she didn't want to think about_ that_, not now.

She wanted to be with her plants, she wanted to spend time with them, explaining why she had been away and why she could be going away for short breaks in the future.

_Of course they would understand. _

_Plants were so much kinder and benevolent than people. _

_With one exception, who she had for many years considered worthwhile._

_The one exception that was firmly in her heart..._

As Selina drove on she thought back to a time in her life when her plants were out of control but to her, thriving as started to take over the city. Then the war had ended and she knew they would be burned. Of course they would, in a city full of people who didn't understand... She had planned to save as many as she could, take off somewhere deep in the forest and make a new home away from humans.

_But then it had happened. _

She had been forced into a trap, to use her skills to work with scientists to make a clone. Trapped by a lie : _We have Selina, _he had said. And he had lied... _But asking a plant specialist to work on a human cloning project was a disaster..._

By the time the project was up and running, the promise of her co operation ensuring protection for her plants meant nothing. The city had burned them and Poison Ivy was wanted for the crime of developing plants capable of endangering life. That lab had become her only safe place left, and as the experiment got underway and she realised what it meant, seeing that tiny life grow and then seeing it go disastrously wrong – she had realised, humans _could_ be worth caring about.

_But only that poor little human growing in the lab. _

_She could have killed them all, easily. _

_But she stayed, for him._

She stayed because putting a plant expert in charge of a cloning plot was disastrous. Ivy would always carry that weight in her heart, she was responsible for speeding up his growth.

_It was her fault that rapid growth was stopped at five years because he was deformed. _

_Then she had been told to kill it._

By now, he had been toddling about that lab for more than a month, a little five year old boy, bright in his own way, a fast learner, too. A happy little boy who had never seen the world beyond the lab. _He didn't know they wanted to dispose of him so coldly..._

Selina blinked back tears as she crossed the Gotham bridge and drove on, starting on the last half of the long journey home. She was aching to hug him, that difficult man who she had raised who had once been a tiny, adorable boy...

She recalled the day she saved him:

_He had hurried over to her in quick, tiny steps and smiled up at her with his small, dark, trusting eyes._

“_Hello Ivy!” he said brightly._

_And Ivy had looked to the loaded syringe full of lethal poison that had been left on the table:_

_No, it wasn't going to be this way. _

_Even if she had to be on the run, even if she was wanted by the authorities forever, they would never find her, deep in the forest, and they would never find him, either..._

_Ivy picked up the syringe and carefully placed it in a waste disposal bin, then she smiled as she beckoned him closer._

“_Do you ever wonder where your parents are?”_

_He shook his head._

“_No Mommy, no Daddy,” he said._

“_Well,” Ivy told him as she leaned closer, “That's going to change. But I need you to be very brave, because we're going to have an adventure!”_

_He did a little jump as he started to smile._

“_What is adventure?”_

_She opened up a large sack and paused to put a gas mask on him, she struggled to make it fit, then told him to hide inside and she loosely tied the top of the sack. Then she put on her own mask, scooped the boy into her arms and walked to the door of the lab. She looked back, pausing to turn a wheel that released the toxic gas. It would run along the air vents and hit_ _every room in the maze of laboratories. _

_She would spare no one... _

_As the gas hissed and she heard the first screams, she hurried off, carried him bundled in the sack, making for the back way out as the alarm screamed... She had the boy in her arms when a security guard challenged her and she grabbed him by the throat, then kissed him as his gun went off and hit the ceiling as he fell dead, venom spreading black and lethal through his face as he fell to the floor. They cleared the building and made it to the car. Ivy had no time to strap him in as she placed the round, heavy sack on the passenger seat, closed the door then got in the driver's side and started the engine._

_They drove for miles._

They drove for many, many miles right out of the city and into the countryside before she saw the sack move and wriggle and she pulled over to the side of a quiet road.

“We're safe now,” she said with a smile as she watched the sack.

He wriggled again, then the top came loose as two little pink flippers poked out, then he pushed the sack open and it fell down and he pulled off the gas mask and threw it out the open window. He looked up at Ivy with a big smile on his round face. This was the child created from Oswald's stolen DNA, intended to be used to replace him, an Oswald clone... but it had gone wrong. He would never look like Oswald... He had his dark hair, but he was round and heavy and had a long, pointed nose like a beak. His smile was broad and his eyes were little and dark and shone with excitement. He didn't know what he had just escaped from. He had never been out of the lab before...

“Hello Ivy!” he said in a small gruff voice, “Is this adventure?”

She reached for his little flipper, briefly holding it as he smiled up at her.

“Yes, it is, and soon we are going home.”

He blinked, then opened and closed his flippers.

“Home? What is that?”

Ivy thought of the house in the woods, protected by her vines that would let no one pass.

“Home is a safe place,” she told him, “A place where you will grow up.”

He looked upwards out the open window.

“What is that?” he asked, spreading his flippers as his eyes widened.

“That is sky,” she told him, “This is the world outside the lab, and it's full of plants and nature and sun and sky. And it's a place where you will always be safe – with me.”

“Yay! I like home!” he said brightly.

She smiled again as she paused to put on his seat belt and then she started the engine. As she spoke again, she called him by his name. The name she had given him, taking inspiration from the source of his DNA:

“It's not far to go,” she said as he watched the countryside speed by as she drove along, his little flippers touching at the tips as he looked excitedly out the window, _“We're almost there now. Almost home, Penguin...”_

Ivy was still thinking on the past as the sun shone down and in the far off distance, the forest beckoned:

He was a grown man now. He had tried, against her wishes, many times to go out into the world and meet others. But people always treated him like a freak. People made her sick sometimes with their shitty attitude... She was looking forward to seeing him again, she hated leaving him when she had gone to the city. Ivy knew she would now have to explain that she would be away sometimes, too.

Now she wished she could turn the car around and go back to Selina and Josh and tell them everything. She wanted to say she had been forced to work on the plot to replace Oswald, that circumstance had forced her into it, that Oswald's clone was a poor, deformed man who would never have a normal life because of the way he looked. _She wanted to cry and tell them the plot to replace him had been the work of Jeremiah Velaska... _

She wished she had shared all of it with them, because she had longed to share this tale for many years, but now she was almost home and it was too late to turn back. Ivy wiped tears from her eyes, pushing aside sad thoughts of the past and his terrible start in life, and as she neared the forest she felt better for the beckon of nature and her own special plants. And soon, she would be back home where she belonged, she would be home to Penguin, too.

That thought was enough to ensure her regret over the past was pushed far away as she smiled, heading for home and feeling as if nature itself was embracing her now._ Yes, she was back in her own territory, and it was good to be back where she belonged.._. She still didn't know when to explain the whole story to Josh and Selina, but it would have to happen soon. But not yet, all she wanted now was to get home and give Penguin a big hug. He was her little secret, and now he was a grown man, and a real handful to keep an eye on – but this was home, and he was family as much as her plants. She was still missing Josh and Selina sharply.

“_Stop it, Ivy, you have commitments,”_ she said as she drove through the vine curtain and headed for the house...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Kane brought the kids back from Ireland. Having them home and the house filled with their laughter and the sound of them running about again, made everything they had been through feel like a bad dream. Molly had explained to her two eldest that Julian had been sick, but was better now, and they could go up and see him but they had to be quiet.

“And no jumping on his bed!” she had added, looking to her eldest son.

“Okay Mom!” Cain said, then he ran up the stairs as Luna hurried after him yelling _Wait for me_, and while Oswald hugged his youngest son then carried little Felix off to the front room to sit with him for a while, Molly followed the others up the stairs, she had told them to be quiet, but did kids ever listen?

Cain ran into Julian's room as Luna followed. Julian was dressed and resting on top of the covers. He kept his pain medication close at hand but had been well enough to watch TV and then use his phone that morning, and as they came into the room his eyes lit up with joy.

“Oh no not leprechauns!” he said, laughing as Cain leapt on to the bed with a bounce that made the bruises on his head throb, but Julian didn't care as he gave him a hug.

“I've missed you all so much!”

Luna climbed up on the bed too, and her eyes widened as she looked at him in dismay, then reached up to touch his bruised head as he quickly shifted back.

“No, don't touch it, Luna, it still hurts. I'm still getting better.”

“Oh no, poor Julian, what happened?” she said.

“I had an operation,” he told her, “And it worked, I'm cured.”

Cain looked at him in surprise.

“Forever?”

He laughed.

“Yes forever, Cain! I might not be able to walk for a long time – I may have to use a wheelchair for a while, but what matters is, I get to live a long life and see you kids grow up. That means more to me than anything.”

Cain hugged him again.

“I love you, Julian.”

“I love you both very much too!” he said warmly.

Molly had reached the doorway. She had been watching as he hugged the kids and told them how much he loved them, and as he saw her standing there he smiled and she smiled back at him. The thought had just struck her that Julian would make a great father. It was such a shame he and Iris had not had kids together. Ever since he had come into their home, he had been great with the kids. They adored their big, grown up brother so much and he had always been there for them.

“Let me know if you need to rest,” she told him.

“I'm fine, Molly,” he assured her, “I've missed them so much, I want some time with them.”

“If you get a headache, take your pain meds.”

“I won't forget.”

For a moment, their gaze lingered on one another as Molly saw the sparkle in his eyes and her heart filled with warmth. Then Luna started talking again and Julian turned to her. Molly left the room to speak with her father before he caught his flight back home.

“I'd stay longer,” Kane was saying as he stood in the front room, pulled a cigarette from his pack, then Oswald glanced at him and indicated to the open door that led out side.

“Oh sorry, I forgot, you don't have smoking in the same room as the kids...”

“I hope Grandpa didn't have smoking in the same room as the kids,” Molly reminded him.

Kane paused for thought.

“I don't think so,” he said, “Mostly in the garden...no smoking in front of the kids and definitely no bad language. Even though I had to take a few difficult business calls and that twat who lives over the back from me landed more than thirty tennis balls in my garden! _Why_ did he build a tennis court near my fence? He's got acres of feckin' land! But as I said Oswald, I can't stay, I got business to attend to back home. Nothing heavy, just a few usual things that need the attention of the godfather – me.”

Then he went outside and lit up his cigarette.

Molly joined him on the patio.

“I'm so glad Julian's okay now,” Kane told her as he stood there smoking, “Must be a big weight off your minds. He's been though so much. He's a brave man.”

“Yes he is,” Molly said quietly as she thought about all Julian had been through. It had never really been over for him since his rescue from the asylum – until now.

Kane turned his head and looked at his daughter, hearing worry in her voice, then seeing something in her eyes that gave him cause for concern.

“Is something wrong, love?”

She hesitated, then she shook her head.

“Probably not... it sounds stupid but... I had a nightmare, about Jeremiah Velaska. It was so real. I thought I'd forgotten about it, but it keeps coming back to me. Oswald laughed, he said Velaska was dead and it was just a dream. But I don't know...”

“He is dead,” Kane told her, “He's been dead since he made the mistake of abducting River. Oswald and his men shot him and his people to pieces – you were there, you saw it, Molly. And no one has seen Velaska since. That was more than five years back. He's dead. Forget him. Sometimes dreams are just dreams.”

Molly looked into her father's eyes, then she glanced over her shoulder to be sure the kids were not nearby.

“And Oswald and I have reassessed our relationship... Oswald decided he wanted to live out his fantasy... now me and Julian are a lot closer. Oswald loves it!”

Kane stared at her for a moment, then he laughed softly.

“That reminds of me of the time I was doing five years and your Uncle Ryan took care of your Mam's needs - if you know what I mean! He was no threat to my marriage, I love the man like a brother. And life can be complicated sometimes, Molly. But your mother was insatiable in those days – I knew what it was like to stray, behind her back – I'll never forgive myself for that. But we had an arrangement, it was better that way and I was happy to know she wasn't frustrated or worse, seeing other men I knew nothing about.”

Molly playfully slapped his arm.

“Stop it, Dad! I don't want to think about that, you're my parents.”

“But we still have sex, me and your Mam. We have a great sex life!”

“Dad!”

Kane chuckled. Then he thought again about Julian.

“Poor Julian's had a terrible time, fighting this thing,” he added, “I don't doubt life will be a struggle for him. Having you and Oswald so close probably makes a huge difference to him.”

“It does,” she agreed.

Kane finished his cigarette.

“As for the nightmares, they'll pass, I'm sure. I've had times when my dreams have been terrible, especially in times of gangland unrest. And you and Oswald have been through a lot, and so has Julian.”

“I had the nightmare while Julian was in surgery.”

“And that explains it,” Kane assured her, “We all worry for those we love, Molly. It was just a bad dream...”

After Kane left, Molly called the kids downstairs so Julian could rest. Then River turned up and Luna and Cain hurried to the door to see their sister.

“I'll catch up with you soon,” she told them, “I have to see Julian first, I'm here to check on him.”

“_Hi River!”_

River turned her head, looking up the stairs as surprise registered in her gaze. Julian was up and dressed and in his wheelchair looking down from the top of the stairs.

“What are you doing out of bed?” she demanded.

“I feel well enough to get up,” he told her, “I remember what it was like when I came out of Ashecliffe – I can cope like this, I'm not struggling!”

River headed for the stairs as Julian backed his chair away from the top.

“You should be in bed!” Molly heard her say.

“No, I feel okay,” Julian replied, “As long as I have the pain relief I'm fine.”

Molly smiled as she walked away from the door and the kids ran off together, heading for the garden. In the front room she heard Felix laugh as Oswald sat on the sofa with him. Their family felt complete now, the kids coming home had been like a ray of light returning to the house. But still memories of that nightmare lingered. She wished she could shake it off but it hung over her like a looming shadow.

Later that afternoon, Oswald went upstairs and found Julian still in his chair, he was at his desk and looking at his laptop screen. He had signed in to his social media account as Sarah Smith, and was looking through the profiles of people he had friended who didn't know his real identity. The people he had saved as Messiah when he had possessed the power to heal.

“I wish I could still do that,” Julian said as he closed the screen down and turned his chair from the desk, “I think about what I did when I was carrying the Tetch virus and then I think, maybe saving all those people wasn't enough.”

“Enough for what?” Oswald asked as he limped over to him.

“Enough to make amends. Look at Iris, she was able to put what I did behind her - until I went crazy and attacked Molly. Iris will never trust me again. I woke her bad memories. That's my fault. And I know Molly understands, but I still wish I'd been able to stop myself -”

“That's enough!” Oswald said firmly, “Julian, you had no control over your actions at the time. And Iris had built a relationship with you – she should have remembered you had no control and later, understood that you were cured, she should have believed River! She chose not to! She brought a gun into this house while you were waiting to have a life saving operation, I don't want to think about what she might have done if you had reached for her or hugged her unexpectedly! And you worked miracles while you could, when you had the power to heal. You've also served on the city council representing my underworld and done a wonderful job of it! Don't think you still have to pay any kind of debt to society for what you did whilst influenced by those terrible experiments! You have nothing to feel guilty about, Julian. We love you, we want you to be happy. You have your life back.”

Julian gave a sigh and suddenly looked exhausted.

“I keep thinking, maybe I won't walk again. But I shouldn't be thinking like that, I should be thankful I'm alive.”

“Of course you will wonder about that,” Oswald said as he pushed his chair back over to his bedside, “And you look very tired, Julian. I think you've had enough for one day. You need to sleep.”

“You're probably right.”

“I know I am!”

Oswald helped him out of the chair and on to his bed, not that Julian needed much help, but as he sank back against his pillow he gave a sigh, thankful to be lying down again.

“Do you need your meds?” Oswald asked.

“No, I just need to rest.”

Oswald smiled down at him.

“The kids have worn you out!”

Julian laughed.

“It's been a great afternoon, I regret nothing. They're always worth it!”

Then he thought of something.

“Oswald, would it be okay if I sent Molly some flowers to say thank you for being there for me?”

“That would be a wonderful surprise for her!”

Julian reached for his phone.

“I can do it,” Oswald offered, “You look so tired, Julian.”

“No, I want to do it... Can I send her red roses?”

Oswald paused for thought.

“I usually send her those. But you can send her anything else you think she might like. Something that she will associate with you, the way she associates roses with me.”

Julian looked through a list of bouquets, choosing a delicate potted blue orchid. He ordered it and then turned his phone around as Oswald smiled.

“An excellent choice,” he told him.

“Now I can rest.”

“Yes, get some sleep now,” Oswald said, and then he left the room, closing the door behind him as Julian closed his eyes, giving into exhaustion.

The next day when the orchid arrived, Oswald smiled as he saw the look on Molly's face. Then she read the message on the card aloud:

_'Dear Molly, Thanks for being there for me and supporting me when I was scared, and for all the love you give me, I will always be grateful and thankful. I am truly blessed to have you and Oswald in my life now and forever – all my Love, Julian.'_

“He mentioned me?” Oswald said in surprise, “I thought it was just for you!”

“You knew about this?” Molly was still smiling.

“Yes, but I didn't need to help him. He was so tired yesterday, but he insisted on ordering something for you.”

Molly felt moved by Julian's gesture, he had gone to so much trouble – something so simple as ordering flowers wasn't simple for him at this time, everything tired him out as he slowly recovered.

“I think I should go up and thank him,” she said.

“Yes, I think you should too,” Oswald said warmly.

As Molly went upstairs carrying the orchid, Oswald had started to think about the future. Their arrangement with Julian wasn't some sordid, dirty little secret, it was far more than that, it was precious, and he wanted to make a gesture to show that to both of them...

He still had that thought in mind as he went into the front room and turned on the TV. Ed Nygma was smiling for flashbulbs as cameras went off and he basked in the attention as he addressed the press:

“This is just a quick announcement on behalf of the Cobblepot family,” he said as smiled again for another picture opportunity as he stood there in a shimmering green suit, “As you are aware Julian Cobblepot was forced to stand down as underworld representative on the city council due to illness. The good news is, he's recently had successful treatment and is now beginning a full recovery. His health issues are resolved, but he regrets to inform you that he will not be able to return to politics due to lasting side effects of surgery. He is going to enjoy a quiet life at home with his family, he's very happy to be cured and he sends the city his best wishes. Oswald has requested at this time, no press intrusion, please – and also the family requests you do not send flowers, could you please instead, if you wish, make a donation to the fund that supports the families of those who fell at the battle for the monolith. That is all, apart from this : I would like to add my own thanks, to the brilliant Doctor River Mooney who took on the task of curing her brother.”

Oswald smiled warmly at the screen.

“That's nice, thank you, Ed,” he said.

Then Ed spoke again.

“_I'd also like to thank Ivy Pepper, whose collaboration with Doctor Mooney made this possible. _Thank you, that will be all.”

Oswald stared at the screen. His jaw dropped, then his face became a mask of rage.

“_ED YOU MORON!” _he yelled at the TV...

Molly was upstairs when she heard Oswald shout in anger. But she was more concerned with Julian. Who was sitting on his bed in a cold sweat as he looked up at her apologetically.

“Sorry about this... “

She looked to the bedside, where there was a glass of water but no pills. Julian had woken up in pain, reached for his pills and knocked the bottle to the floor. He had been lying there in pain, unable to move for the throbbing in his head, for the past twenty minutes. Molly grabbed the pills and popped the cap, then she put an arm around him as he sat up and she helped him to take his medication.

“You should have called me or Ozzie!” she reminded him.

Julian breathed a heavy sigh as he sank back down against the pillow and looked up at her.

“I was hoping it would pass. I didn't want to worry you.”

“It won't pass, Julian! You're still healing!”

She cautiously ran a gentle hand over his scarred head, feeling the soft blonde hair that was starting to regrow but yet to cover the bruises and needle marks.

“That's better,” Julian gave a another sigh, “It's kicking in. Thanks, Molly. I'm sorry about this.”

Molly leaned over him and smiled.

“I only came up to thank you for the orchid!”

Julian smiled too. The pain relief was working now.

“I'm glad you like it.”

“I love it,” she said softly, and leaned closer, giving him a brief, tender kiss.

“I should get up soon,” Julian said.

“No, you rest for a while,” Molly told him, “You mustn't do too much too soon.”

“And that is why I'm frustrated,” he said, “I just want to be back to normal!”

“You will be soon, as long as you rest.” She promised him, then she left the room.

Molly took the orchid to the bedroom, where she placed it on the dressing table. On the other side of the room were red roses in a vase, next to the bed, those were from Oswald. She looked from the orchid to the roses and smiled, then she recalled Oswald had been yelling at the TV. She went back downstairs to find out what was going on.

Oswald was pacing the front room as anger burned in his gaze. He spoke sharply into the phone again.

“_Ed, you're an idiot!”_

“But why?” Ed demanded, “I only thanked the doctors who saved Julian!”

“Oh Ed, I told you _not _to mention names...”

“But they deserved credit!”

Oswald tensed as he paused for breath, trying to contain his anger as he spelled out the facts:  
_“There has been a warrant out for the arrest of Ivy Pepper since her plants were burned post war! Expect a knock on the door from the GCPD, as I will also be expecting one!”_

“Oh dear... Oh no!” Ed said as anxiety crept into his voice, “What do you want me to say?”

“_Nothing! You've said enough!” _Oswald fumed, “If they ask, you say, you don't know. Act dumb – after what you just did... _THAT SHOULDN'T BE TOO HARD TO ACHIEVE!_”

He ended the call and limped over to the drinks cabinet and grabbed a bottle, pouring himself a large measure.

Molly stood there looking on.

“Ed mentioned Ivy?”

“Yes he did!” Oswald drank a third of the glass and topped it up again, “I need to call River - and if Jim Gordon comes over here and starts demanding to know where Ivy is, he can do what he likes to me but he is not...” he blinked away tears as he lowered his voice, “He is_ NOT_ going to drag poor Julian down town to answer questions! He's recovering, he's vulnerable, I won't allow it!”

“I won't allow that either,” she assured him as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his back, gently rubbing as his back stayed stiff with tension, “It's okay, Oswald, we just have to think up a story and run it past River and Julian.”

Oswald had started to think quickly. They needed a way out of this or the shit would hit the fan, not just for them, but for the underworld's position in government. They couldn't be seen to have secretly harboured a fugitive who had been deemed a threat to Gotham City...

River had not expected detectives to show up at the clinic. But they did. They flashes badges, and said she would have come in for questioning. River didn't know what was going on, because while Oswald was trying to call her, she had been casually chatting to Victor about her day. She was shaking as she got into the car and they drove away, heading for the GCPD...

Molly had spoken to Julian, explaining the situation. She felt bad about waking him, but it was pretty obvious the cops would be on their way soon...

Oswald was in the front room as Felix played through the open doorway beyond, sitting on a mat as he piled up ABC blocks. At least the older kids were at school and missing all this trouble...Then he heard a knock and knew that knock right away.

“_Fuck!”_ he whispered under his breath as he leaned on his cane and rose from his seat and limped down the hallway as Jim Gordon knocked again.

“Hello, old friend,” he said impatiently, “What can I do for you?”

Jim flashed his badge.

“I think you know what this is about, Oswald,” he said.

“No, but I'm sure you will enlighten me!” he replied as his voice grew tense, then Jim went inside and Oswald closed the door behind him.

“It's about what Ed Nygma said on TV,” Jim told him, “He thanked Ivy Pepper for saving your son's life. Do I need to remind you Ivy has been wanted on charges of endangerment to life on a mass scale by wilful use of deadly plants, plants that she cultivated?”

Oswald looked at him blankly.

“Have you spoken to Ed about this?”

“I have, and Ed is playing dumb. But I don't doubt the _Riddler_ would - if the _Penguin_ asked him to.”

Anger flashed in Oswald's eyes.

“You're using our _criminal _names? Do I need to remind you I am Oswald Cobblepot, respected head of the underworld and Mr Nygma is my chief representative within our unified government?”

Jim tensed.

“Don't make this about politics, Oswald.”

“It _IS _about politics! You're accusing_ my_ family of hiding a fugitive and withholding information from the GCPD?”

Jim paused, keeping his temper in check. He had not expected this to be easy, and he had been right...

“Poison Ivy cultivated plants that threatened the city and the safety of its residents. Under the laws formed post war, that's considered an act of terrorism. She never returned to answer to those accusations!”

Oswald turned away and limped towards the front room as Jim followed.

“Bullshit!” he said under his breath as he went over to the drinks cabinet and poured a large brandy, then he went over to a grand, high backed, padded chair and sat down, regarding Jim over the rim of his glass.

“Ivy Pepper was misguided and I don't doubt the plants became untamed, beyond her control. If she wasn't around when they were burned, she had most likely left the city and had no knowledge of their dangerous condition – perhaps, they were not dangerous whilst under her care. You have _no_ proof she deliberatelymade them deadly or out of control!”

“But it's still an act of terrorism,” Jim reminded him.

Oswald drank a third of his heavy measure and set the glass down.

“And maybe those laws need an overhaul, Jim!”

“As I said, I'm not here to get political,” Jim replied, “I support unity as much as you do – but this is serious. Where is Ivy?”

Oswald glared at him.

“I don't know, Jim! I haven't seen her for many years!”

“Ed said he might have made a mistake with the name of the doctor who advised on your son's treatment,” Jim added, “But I think he's lying.”

“Ivy is plant specialist _not _a doctor!” Oswald reminded him sharply, “And River is a surgeon – she is the _only_ doctor who carried out the procedure on Julian!”

“_I'll need to speak to Julian before I leave.”_

Oswald felt tension creeping through his muscles once more as he glared at Jim.

“Julian is recovering from life saving surgery! If you upset him, if you make him feel unwell, I will hit the GCPD with the biggest lawsuit it has ever seen, and I am not afraid to make it public knowledge that the GCPD are endangering the unity pact by bullying my vulnerable son!”

Jim felt a sting of guilt at the thought of questioning Julian. It had to be done, but he wasn't happy about it. He knew he had recently come home after treatment, and hoped to keep it brief. He just wanted to know where Ivy was...

Just then Felix ran in from the next room, reached for his Daddy and climbed on to his lap, snuggling up to Oswald's chubby belly like it was a big cushion as Oswald sat there with his shirt hanging over his belt. Felix got comfortable and started to drink from his sippy cup as Oswald put an arm around his little son.

“I have a family to care for, Jim!” he reminded him, “I don't doubt Ed Nygma said a name and got it wrong. You've got excited over a dusty old warrant from the days of wartime and you've come over here hoping to get a big fat result for the GCPD. You are wrong! I can't help you.”

Just then Felix climbed down again from his Daddy's lap and toddled back towards his mat and toys that were scattered about the floor.

“Dada!” he called.

“My son needs me,” Oswald said, and he leaned on his cane and got up.

“You can see yourself out, Jim.”

“Dada!” Felix called again.

“Where is Julian?” Jim asked.

Oswald looked at him coldly.

“He had lifesaving brain surgery a week ago, where do you _think_ he is? He's upstairs resting! My wife is with him, Julian needs a great deal of care. Make it brief, Jim. Then, you know where the door is. Don't come back here asking questions again. We can't help you.”

“Dada!” Felix called yet again, and Oswald limped off towards his son.

“Yes, yes, Daddy's here,” he said kindly.

Jim left the room and headed for the stairs. He didn't doubt it would be difficult, talking to Julian about Ivy after all he had been through. He didn't want to cause any suffering to the brave man who had long fought his condition and served the city well, Jim also recalled how Julian had shared his secret, revealing he was Messiah. Julian had done so much good for the city, and now he had won a very long standing battle to regain his health. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardise his recovery. He would keep it brief. He would have to anyway – because he knew Molly Cobblepot wouldn't be too thrilled to see him...

Jim had been thinking about Julian's ability to heal the sick, he had done so much good in the time he had possessed those powers. But clearly, he didn't possess them now, or he would have been able to heal himself. One look at Julian was all he needed to be sure of that as he knocked on the door and Molly told him to come in.

“Julian, Molly,” he began as Molly stood behind his chair and gave Jim an angry glare.

Julian was in comfortable, padded leather wheelchair. Molly had just placed a pillow behind his head, and Julian's face had registered pain as he leaned back against it. Jim was trying not to stare, but he could tell at a glance Julian had been through enough and really didn't need a police interrogation, he was sitting there in a t shirt and blue jeans, looking tired. His head was shaved and a trace of blonde hair was just starting to show, but not nearly enough to cover the needle marks and bruises on his head. Worse were the old surgical scars that were now visible, he had so many of those sliced into his scalp that Jim couldn't bear to look at them. Poor Julian had been through a lot to find a cure. He didn't need this...

“I'm sorry,” Jim said, “I know you're recovering, Julian. I know you need your rest. But it's come to police attention that your treatment was assisted by Ivy Pepper. She's wanted for the mass endangerment of life, post war.”

Julian laughed softly as he looked away from Jim, then he looked up at Molly as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“What the fuck is he talking about?”

As he said that, Julian reached up, covering her hand with his own as he briefly held on for a moment.

“I don't know,” Molly replied, “Don't worry, Julian. He's leaving soon.”

She looked frostily at Jim, who stepped closer, speaking again as he asked another question.

“Julian,” Jim said gently, “Do you know Ivy Pepper?”

Julian looked slightly pissed off now.

“No. I do not know her. And I've had recent surgery – I've had almost eighty holes drilled in my head to deliver medication to kill off life threatening scar tissue - and I'm in _pain_, detective! I need to lie down!”

Molly gave his shoulder a discreet squeeze. Julian was certainly playing this well... Jim glanced over to the bedside table where several bottles of pills sat. Clearly, Julian needed his rest. He asked one more question.

“Who carried out your treatment?”

“My sister River!” Julian insisted, then he gave a hiss of pain, briefly holding the side of his bruised head.

“Julian?” Molly said as worry crept into her voice.

“It hurts...” he told her, and he meant it.

Molly glared at Jim.

“_You've had your answers. He doesn't know anything, I don't know anything and neither does my husband. Now feck off!_”

“I'm leaving, thank you for your time,” Jim said quickly, and he left the room and headed for the stairs. On the way out he heard Felix give a squeal of delight as Oswald said_ Clever boy! _ and ABC bricks scattered to the floor as Felix laughed and clapped. Jim left the house, closing the door softly behind him, and headed back to his car.

Molly watched from the window as Jim drove away, then she turned back to Julian, who had wheeled his chair over to the bed.

“He's gone now, let me help you into bed, you need to rest.”

Julian smiled as he put his arms around Molly and she helped him out of the chair and on to the bed, then he surprised her, playfully pulling her closer.

“I'm not in pain, I lied!”

Molly laughed as she looked into his eyes.

“You had me fooled!”

“I may only be a Cobblepot by name, but I'm certainly a Cobblepot by nature,” he told her, “I know whose side I'm on, and I know how to lie to the cops!”

Molly cautiously ran a gentle hand over his bruised head, feeling the start of regrowth soft under her touch as a trace of blonde hair caught the light and felt silky soft. It wasn't enough to cover his scars yet, but soon, it would be. Julian was recovering quickly.

“But you are tired,” she reminded him, “River said you need a lot of rest.”

“Yes Nurse Molly,” he replied as a playful shine came to his eyes, “I'll be a good boy and go to sleep...May I have a kiss first?”

“You most certainly can!”

Molly leaned in, giving him a brief but tender kiss, then she stepped back from the bed.

“Sleep now,” she told him, “And don't worry about anything. It's all okay.”

Then she left the room, closing the door quietly as Julian closed his eyes, ready to slide back into much needed rest.

Molly found Oswald sat on the floor as Felix played close by, and Oswald was reading a text message.

“The cops have River and Victor is on his way to the GCPD,” he said, “We just have to hope River can keep it together and reveal nothing. She's smart, she can do this.”

Molly felt a flicker of worry.

“Poor River, she's a doctor, she's not used to being dragged in for questioning by the cops!”

“I know that,” Oswald replied as he sent a message back to Victor, “But River can handle this. She's tougher than she seems... Do you think I ought to call Harvey Dent to go and get her out of there?”

“No!” Molly said in alarm, “If she's denying everything, there's nothing they can do. If we call Dent in, it looks like we're hiding something.”

Oswald nodded, then he reached for his cane and with Molly's help, got up from the floor as Felix carried on playing with his toys.

“That's a good point, Molly,” he replied, “We shall have to wait and see how this turns out... I'm confident River will say nothing.”

River had endured several hours of questioning. She had denied all knowledge of Ivy Pepper's whereabouts. She claimed she had never met her. She said she did not know the name of the doctor who had advised her on the surgery, because the help had come anonymously from a hospital outside of the city. It was all she could think to say...

Victor had turned up at the GCPD and demanded to see his wife. Then he had looked around the place and recalled how, in the old days, he would have had them all shitting themselves with fear as they cowered under their desks while he stood there on a table top, guns drawn... But times had changed. Now all he could rely on was his name, his reputation and his unsettling deathly stare as he glared at the cop on the desk and said again:

“_Where's my wife?”_

River had been released thirty minutes later.

Victor had put his arm around her as they headed for the door and glanced back as he had said, _“The boss won't be too happy about this!”_

Then they had left, heading for home as River called her Dad to assure him that she had said nothing - Ivy's location was safe...

When the call came through to Jim that River had given up nothing, he felt disappointed. Ivy Pepper was on serious charges and had been wanted for many years – but all was not lost. He realised that as he pulled up outside the house of Jax Sterling. He recognised a second car in the driveway: Jax had a visitor. Hopefully he would be able to speak to Penguin's General Jax and his assistant Josh together...

Jim got out of the car, walked through the gate and up a path surrounded by flowers blooming in the late summer heat. He rang the doorbell and it chimed, then the door was opened by a chubby man in a dark suit. His dark hair was combed back neatly and he had a metallic hand, this was Jax Sterling, Oswald's General..

“Detective Gordon!” he said in surprise, “Gosh, it's been a long time! Please, do come in. How are you?”

“I'm very well, thank you,” Jim replied as Jax led him through to the front room.

An antique clock chimed somewhere in the house. The patio door was open to a garden full of roses in bloom. Josh was on the couch talking to April as she held baby Alicia in her arms.

“Hi Detective,” said Josh, “This is unexpected.”

“I'm actually here on police business,” Jim said, and Jax and Josh exchanged a glance. They knew nothing about this, so far, there had been no call from Oswald...

“What's going on?” April asked as she sat there with the baby in her arms.

“Nothing as far as I'm aware...” Jax paused to take his phone from his pocket, he checked for messages and found none then put it away again as Jim stood there waiting.

“What's this about?” he asked.

“Actually I need to speak to you and Josh,” Jim told him.

Josh got up and stood beside Jax as they both looked at Jim in confusion.

“What's happened?” Josh asked.

Jax turned to April.

“I think it's time Alicia had her nap?” he suggested, “And then if it's not too much trouble, Jim may like some tea while we sit down and have a business discussion.”

April smiled, understanding whatever this was about, Jax had it in hand. She left the room to take Alicia to the nursery.

As April left the room, Jim spoke up.

“Today Edward Nygma accidentally revealed live on air during an interview, that Ivy Pepper was involved in saving the life of Oswald's son Julian. Ivy is wanted on charges of terrorism. Post war, she allowed her plants to take over the city and they posed a threat to life. She's considered dangerous and has never answered to those charges. As Oswald's top men, I don't doubt you know something about this.”

Josh looked back at Jim, saying nothing. Jim looked at him intently.

“Josh? Tell me all you know about Ivy Pepper?”

“I don't know anything about this, Detective,” he replied.

As Jim looked to Jax, Oswald's General smiled back at him politely.

“While I am aware that Miss Pepper was wanted post war for her cultivation of deadly plants, I also know that no provision has so far been made for legislation to be put in place to offer her protection should she decide to return to the city,” Jax explained, “This is common knowledge. My employer has a list of those missing since wartime who had considerable links to crime and underworld activities. Should any of those people ever wish to resurface, I'm sure Mr Penguin, in his great wisdom, knows who he will offer protection and who the underworld family will throw to the wolves – meaning, yourselves. However, I know nothing about Miss Pepper's whereabouts nor have I seen her,” he paused briefly touching his arm as he spoke to Josh: _“We do not have to tolerate questioning by the police, Josh. As brothers in arms who fight for the common good of the city, the police and the underworld...”_

Josh started to smile, remembering the rule book.

“_...Must be in harmonious contact at all times to keep the bond of unity strong,”_ he said with a smile.

Jax smiled too as he looked back at Jim.

“_Article one hundred and fifty six, subsection three.”_

He turned around his undamaged hand, making a fist as he displayed the tattoo of unity on the back of his hand.

“Long live the pact, and long live the independence of our great city, Jim!”

Jim nodded in agreement.

“Absolutely, long live the pact,” he agreed.

Then Jax saw the look on Jim's face: He was stuck. He could not continue with his questioning of the employees of Mr Penguin by law, now the pact had been quoted.

“In the interests of _unity and harmony_ I would like to invite you to have tea with me,” Jax said, making a sweeping gesture towards the seating area, then he glanced to Josh, “And Josh, you said earlier that your lovely wife had a special dinner waiting for you tonight? I believe you should hurry home to her?”

He gave Josh a wink as Josh smiled. Clearly, Jax had this handled.

“Yes, sir, I should be on my way now.”

“Safe journey home,” Jax said as Josh left the room.

Jim sat down reluctantly. It really was in his best interest to allow Jax to play host and have a friendly chat – he had just had the rule book thrown in his face. He was aware he had been on thin ice, questioning the head of the underworld's employees like this, because it went against the laws of the pact. He had managed to pull Ed in for questioning because he was the one who had publicly mentioned Ivy, but after an hour, they had been forced to release him and he had given nothing away...

“I'm so glad you can stay for tea, Jim,” Jax said as he turned for the door. “I shall go and fetch my wedding pictures... I don't believe you've seen them. I have a large album upstairs, and vacation pictures from last summer...”

Jim gave a heavy sigh. He felt stuck here now, while Ivy was still out there and those who knew of her whereabouts were either refusing to talk or using immunity under the pact...

Then April returned to the room and set the tea tray down on the table. She sat down and offered him a cup and Jim made a decision. _April was River's adopted daughter. She called Oswald her uncle. She was family... he didn't want to use this, but it was all he had..._

“No thanks,” he said quickly, “I just wanted to ask you something. Do you know where Ivy Pepper is?”

April's hand shook as she set the cup back down. Jim recalled how terrified she had been when he had been forced to arrest Oswald over the bombing that had killed Mayor Galavan, and felt a sting of guilt. But his job was to protect and serve the city, not the underworld...

“I can't arrest Oswald for this,” he told her, “And I can't touch Jax or Josh because they serve him. But if it turns out that Ivy's whereabouts were known, I _do_ have the power to arrest accomplices like River - and spouses like you and Selina and Molly Cobblepot. You have a baby to think about. I don't want to do this, but it's the law and Ivy Pepper is considered dangerous. I won't throw your name into this mess. Just tell me where she is, and when she talks, I swear I won't pull anyone else in, I'll say it was anonymous information. Anyone found to be obstructing her capture – not protected by the pact – will go to jail for this. Think about your family – _all_ of them, April. _Where's Ivy?_”

April's face had paled as she put a shaking hand to her mouth and blinked back tears.

“Just tell me and this will all go away – for everyone,” Jim added, “Ivy's dangerous. You don't need to be dragged into this.”

April looked nervously at Jim.

“You won't arrest anyone else?”

“I won't arrest anyone but Ivy.”

He looked intently at her.

She slowly nodded and her voice shook as she spoke.

“Jax told me about it... she's in a house deep in the forest past curtain of dead vines... An old mansion house...”

As she talked, Jim listened. Then he got up armed with all the information he needed.

“Thanks,” he told her, “And I mean it, April – no one else is going to jail, just Ivy.”

He left the house and headed for the car.

Jax returned with the photo albums and set them on the table. Then he noticed his wife was pale and tearful and as she looked at him, she gave a sob.

“April what's wrong?” Jax said in alarm.

She gave a sob as tears spilled down her face.

“_I'm so sorry, Jax!”_ she wept, _“But Jim said if Ivy talks, he can't touch you but he can arrest me... and Molly... and Selina... I told him what you said to me!”_

She gave another sob.

Jax heard Jim's car start up and drive away quickly.

Anger sparked in his gaze.

“_That son of a... Oh, this is a damned awful mess!”_

“_I'm sorry!”_ April said again as she looked into his eyes and tears streaked her face, _“But he said I could go to jail... I was scared for Alicia, I thought I'd be separated from my baby – and Molly has kids, and Julian has been so sick, what if they tried to put Julian in jail? He would die there, Jax! He even said River could go to jail! That's my family he's talking about!”_

“And it's not your fault, my dear,” he assured her as he wrapped his arms around her, rocking her gently as she sobbed against his shoulder, “You are not to blame,” Jax said softly, “I'm to blame for disclosing information that should have stayed at work... I shall call Mr Penguin and explain everything. He needs to warn Ivy. And I will take full responsibility for this!”


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It was just gone six pm when Jax Sterling pulled up outside the mansion and turned off the engine. He gave a sigh, feeling a weight of guilt in his heart as he got out of the car and went up to the front door and rang the bell. Oswald was expecting him, he had already called to say there had been a breach of security and it was best explained in person. Oswald had told him to come over right away...

Molly answered the door and had a look on her face as if to say, _what's happened now?_ But she didn't ask as she led him through to the front room where Oswald was relaxing with a brandy after dinner. She left them to talk and went outside, because Luna was playing in the garden with Cain and Oswald had been forced to go in, because he had business to attend to. Business, at this time of the evening... Molly knew it had to be serious for Jax to be coming over for urgent talks at six pm...

“Sit down, Mr Sterling,” Oswald said, keeping it formal as he gestured to an armchair and Jax sat down, gripping his gloved metallic hand in his human hand as he looked at his boss.

“What's this about?” Oswald asked with concern in his gaze.

Jax took a deep breath.

“The security breach was my fault, sir. I told my wife about Ivy and the plants – I meant no harm by it, and April is a member of the Cobblepot family, I kept that in mind, sure that sharing my tale would be a safe thing to do... But at no time did I assume as the husband of April Mooney that I could be casual about information -”

Oswald briefly held his hand up.

“Jax,” he said, looking at him intently, “I don't doubt your loyalty. I don't doubt April's loyalty either but, knowing April, I guess someone scared her - which was a despicable thing to do to a young woman who has recently given birth. Am I right?”

Jax nodded.

“That would be accurate, yes, Mr Penguin. Jim Gordon came over to the house. Asking questions about Ivy Pepper. Josh was present, I was able to send him home to keep him out of a sticky situation, and I felt confident after quoting the pact I could sit the policeman down and politely have tea and send him on his way... But while I was out of the room, he leaned on April. He told her he could arrest anyone not protected by the pact - her, River, Molly, Selina... He said no one would be in trouble if she told him Ivy's location. So she did. And then he left quickly in my absence and I returned to find my wife in tears!”

There was a flash of anger in Oswald's eyes. Then he remembered the unity pact. _No, he could not limp into the GCPD with Victor at his side spraying off shots before he launched into an angry rant. This had to be handled carefully, it was different times, now... _He drew in a slow breath.

“I apologise,” Jax added.

“Your apology is accepted and the circumstances are understandable,” Oswald said, pausing to sip his drink, “Is April okay?”

“She's very upset, sir.”

“I will call her later,” Oswald replied, “But first we have to call the GCPD... And I must remember my position in city politics because I feel like I could _throttle_ James Gordon for this!”

He set down his drink and reached for his phone and called the GCPD.

“This is Oswald Cobblepot, calling for Jim Gordon on an urgent matter,” Oswald stated, and was put straight through to his office.

“Hello again_ old friend_,” Oswald said as tension crept into his voice, “It seems talking to Julian, who is still recovering from surgery, wasn't enough for you – after getting nothing from him, you went over to see my adopted granddaughter Mrs April Sterling, who has recently given birth, and frightened her into revealing certain information!”

Jim gave a heavy sigh.

“Acting on _anonymous_ information, the GCPD has passed details of Ivy's whereabouts to authorities outside Gotham. They will locate and burn the forest immediately and make every effort to apprehend Ivy.”

Oswald's eyes widened in alarm as he gripped the phone tighter.

“They can't burn the forest until she's out of there!”

“She's a dangerous criminal and if plants are found that are a threat to life, they will do it. There's a search team heading out at dawn. This is out of the City, we're an independent nation, if they apprehend Ivy, they will most likely hand her over to us because of her criminal background – I can't see her asking for shelter over the border. They'll lock her up and throw away the key if they hold on to her.”

“And what are the GCPD's plans for Ivy?”

“Assuming she's returned to Gotham, Ivy will be locked up immediately in Arkham pending trial and when that's over – with her responsibility for the dangerous plants very clear – she will spend the rest of her life in Arkham! Don't even think about intervening, Oswald. She's on charges of terrorism.”

“Thank you for that information,” Oswald said, “And thank you for sharing it before dawn...I do believe you've just done me a favour, Jim.”

“If you're found to be trying to help her escape, the pact won't protect you or anyone else who chooses to get involved,” Jim reminded him, “It's not in the hands of Gotham City. She's over the border. Let their cops handle this and I'll be in touch when it's over.”

“I'm sure you will,” Oswald said coldly, “Goodbye, Jim.”

He ended the call and looked to Jax.

“The GCPD are playing a waiting game. Authorities beyond the city are planning to send in a party to burn the forest come morning – and they are hoping to apprehend Ivy.”

Jax had already made his decision.

“Sir, this is not just about making amends. This is about doing the right thing, Ivy doesn't know they are coming for her. She will need help to get far from that place before the forest is torched. I will go back and warn her.”

Oswald nodded.

“I was expecting you to say that. Please be careful, Jax. Remember, if you get caught I can't offer you protection on this. Are you certain you want to take this risk?”

“Absolutely,” he replied.

“Then I suggest you wait for back up,” Oswald replied, “You can not do this alone. I will ask Josh if he wants to come along – I wouldn't blame him if he refused, but ideally, you need help with this and Josh is more than capable of handling this task.”

“I don't want him to run such a risk, sir,” Jax told him honestly.

“And that is his choice entirely, but I'm sure he will thank me for making him aware of it, no matter what he decides,” Oswald replied, then he made a phone call to Josh.

“This is Mr Penguin,” he said, “I need you to come over to the house – it's a private matter, regarding a security leak.”

“What's happened, sir?” Josh asked.

“I will explain when you get here. Your assistance is possibly required but this is not an official order,” Oswald told him.

“I'm on my way, sir,” Josh replied.

Oswald ended the call and looked over at Jax.

“You and Josh serve me well and I know you make a great team, Jax. If you went off into a possibly dangerous situation without Josh knowing, he would never forgive me. And I would not forgive myself if you went off alone, knowing you could have had assistance. But Josh needs to understand the risk – I will speak to him alone, you will wait here. I won't pressure him, I'll simply explain and then, if he wants to join you, he can. But it has to come from me because I don't think he would refuse you even if he wanted to, because you're his superior and his friend.”

“You're sure about this, sir?” Jax asked.

“Very,” Oswald replied as he reached for his cane and got up, “He will be here soon. I'll be outside waiting for him.”

While Oswald waited outside the house for Josh, Jax remained in the front room. Molly was still in the garden with her two eldest kids, and Julian was all alone upstairs in his room, resting in bed. The pain had eased off and he was needing the medication less frequently now. He was getting stronger and sleeping less, feeling able to do more. He was still stuck with using the wheelchair, and worried a lot about whether or not he would walk again. But he knew he was making a good recovery, and on that warm evening, he was feeling lonely as he thought of Molly and closed his eyes and slid his hand beneath the covers as he thought about all she had promised to do to him.

_Molly would tie him down with restraints. _

_She would dominate him._

_He wanted her mouth on his cock and her fingers in his ass._

_He wanted her to sit on him and fuck him senseless while he was held down by the leather restraints behind the locked door of his playroom._

_Molly would be his kinky nurse._

_Molly could be anything she wanted to be, Molly was amazing..._

His hand was still jerking his cock.

_Nothing was happening._

Julian stopped for a moment.

“Come on!” he said in frustration, jerking his cock again, but the slight flicker of arousal had faded out and he was not hard. He wasn't even close to hard.

_He couldn't get hard..._

“What the fuck is wrong with me?” he whispered as he worried deeply as he lay there, turning on his side as he gave up on any chance of having an orgasm. Now that fear was growing deeper, maybe this was another side effect of the treatment. River had said, it was probably limited to his legs. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe his sex life was over, too. Julian closed his eyes, wishing for that crushing tiredness to sweep over him again, but it didn't, so he stayed awake with no chance of escaping into sleep as he lay there, worrying as he wondered if he would ever have sex again...Then another thought hit him, and that worsened his fears:

_What if Molly didn't want him any more? _

_What if Oswald cancelled their arrangement?_

_If he couldn't fuck, what use was he as Molly's lover?_

Julian blinked away tears as he silently wondered if that beautiful dream that had come true when he spent the night with Molly was already over. It felt as if his whole life was over as in that moment, he had so many fears for the future...

Josh had just enjoyed dinner with Selina. They had the house to themselves now Ivy was gone and they wanted to go back to that closeness of just the two of them, and had planned a wild night. Selina had been ready to call him up to the bedroom and he was dreaming of her hand, sliding lube over her big dildo, as she reminded him how big it was... but then, Oswald had called. Josh had left the house, kissing Selina goodbye and promising to be back as soon as possible. She had laughed and told him not to take too long because if he was late, that would mean a spanking... Josh was still thinking about that as he arrived at the mansion and got out of the car. Then he saw Oswald limp towards him across the driveway. One look told him this was a serious situation, and thoughts of home and fun and a worry free evening were gone.

“Sir?” he said, “What's going on?”

“It seems the GCPD have learned of Ivy's whereabouts. Jax told his wife about Ivy and her fascinating plants and when Jim Gordon pressed her for information, scaring her with the threat of arrest, April talked. I don't blame her and I don't blame Jax. The matter is outside of Gotham's jurisdiction. Outside authorities are planning to burn the forest tomorrow morning and attempt to arrest Ivy as she flees. Jax is leaving tonight to warn her. I have tried to call Ivy's phone but signal is very poor and so far, I have not been able to get through.”

“They're burning the forest?” Josh exclaimed, “Sir, they can't do that with Ivy in there!”

“Yes they can, and they will,” Oswald told him, “She's considered dangerous. That's enough for outside authorities over the border to make a rash decision. They don't want a Gotham monster on their doorstep. Jax is planning to undertake the task of assisting her alone. But he stands a better chance of success if someone helps him. It doesn't have to be you, Josh. If you get caught, I can't offer protection because you're out of the city, and I've already told the GCPD I know nothing of Ivy's whereabouts. This would be _very_ risky. You're_ not_ obliged to go. This is a chance only you can decide to take and I'll understand if you refuse.”

Josh didn't need to think about it.

“I'm not leaving Jax alone with this, and I want to help Ivy.”

Oswald nodded, then patted his shoulder.

“I thought you would say that. Get back in the car, I'll fetch Mr Sterling.”

Then Oswald turned away and limped back towards the house. Josh got into his car and waited with the engine running. He thought about calling Selina, but didn't want to worry her. And he _definitely_ didn't want her chasing after him into a forest that was soon to be burned. He sent her a quick text message:

_Working tonight, with Jax. I'll call you. I may be very late. Don't worry, all is well!_

Then Jax opened up the back door, placed an umbrella gun on the back seat, and then got in the passenger side and put on his seat belt.

“Thank you for joining me. It's not too late to change your mind.”

Josh smiled as he glanced at Jax.

“I'm here for you and Ivy,” he replied, “There's no chance I'll do that! We're going to save Ivy Pepper together.” Then they drove off, starting on the long drive out of town. It would be dark before they reached the forest...

On returning to the house, Molly had a quiet word Oswald, asking him what was wrong._ He told her everything._ She thought of Jax and Josh and felt a flicker of concern: They were, most likely, capable of getting out of there with Ivy before the forest burned... But it was the cops she was worried about. Ivy was across the border. If they got caught, Oswald had no power outside Gotham to step in, nor could he, after telling the GCPD he knew nothing of Ivy's location...

“I hope they get back safely,” she said, then she called to the kids because she was about to make supper.

“I'll check on Julian,” Oswald replied, and he limped off up the stairs as Molly went into the kitchen and the kids ran in from the garden as the sun began to sink slowly to set.

Oswald found Julian's door open, and went inside. Julian was on his back, beneath the covers as he rested, and Oswald noticed right away that he looked worried.

“Is something wrong, Julian?” he asked as he limped over to him.

Julian sat up, cautiously leaning back as Oswald pushed up his pillows, and now felt no pain as his head made contact with it.

“Yes, there is something wrong,” Julian said quietly, “I don't think you and Molly will want to keep our arrangement when you find out what it is.”

Oswald pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed, looking at him intently.

“I'm listening,” he said with great patience as Julian looked away, “Talk to me, tell me what's wrong.”

“I can't...”

“Yes, you can,” Oswald reminded him, “Just explain.”

Julian took a deep breath and looked away.

“It doesn't work any more. I can't get hard. I guess that makes me useless now, I can't be a lover to Molly.”

Julian turned his head, meeting Oswald's gaze, and at once all worry slipped away as he saw deep understanding in Oswald's gaze.

“That's nonsense!” Oswald told him, patting his hand as he spoke softly again, “You mean so much to both of us, Julian. And I'm sure intercourse isn't the only thing you know how to do? You and Molly can have fun finding out what else can be exciting – and there are many things to try! Also remember, you're not recovered yet. It's probably too soon to think about sexual function. And I happen to regard what we share, the three of us, as _so_ much more than merely sexual, Julian. Molly loves you too much to reject you over something like this. Don't worry, this changes nothing. Molly will say the same thing, I know she will.”

“Do you really think so?” Julian asked.

“Yes,” Oswald assured him, “I know it! And you need to learn to be more patient with your recovery, Julian. Everything takes time.”

Julian managed a smile.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“No,” Oswald told him, “I have been through many things in my lifetimes, but I do know I have never had your courage – not when faced with serious illness. I remember when I was on the murder charge in Blackgate, when I was very sick, I didn't face that like you faced your surgery, Julian. I was terrified of the medication making my hair brittle and needing it cut shorter – I didn't want to lose my spikes. I wasn't even losing all my hair, it was a vanity thing. I was weak in every way – _very_ weak emotionally. I cheated on Molly with Beth Crane because I was so wrapped up in my fears that I wouldn't survive to fight the charges. When I think back to how badly I coped in there, and how well you coped with all you've been through over the years, I know you're a truly valiant man. I have the deepest love and respect for you, Julian.”

As Oswald said that, Julian smiled as he shook his head.

“I'm not brave. I was terrified.”

“But you handled it, just like you'll handle this,” he replied, “And with every challenge you face my admiration grows. Don't worry about the damage that doesn't heal. What matters, is that you are still with us and will be forever. That's how deeply we _both_ love you.”

As Julian looked into his eyes, warmth reflected in his gaze.

“Thank you Oswald, it means a lot,” he told him, as the worst of his fears melted away. No matter what, he was still loved, and he knew it.

Deep in the forest beyond the curtain of withered vines, in the big, ivy covered house that stood alone in the woods, as the sun began to set and shades of amber threw a warm glow about the forest, Ivy stood at the back door, watching as a small, round figure in a dark suit waddled towards her. He had a big smile on his round face, and his small dark eyes shone with their usual glow. He was in a good mood today – and that was something to be thankful for, the years had passed since that little, adorable child had been saved form the lab - he was a grown man now, and had a fiery temper when the mood took him. But today, he was happy.

“I caught a fish!” he called out in a deep, gruff voice.

“Great!” Ivy said with a smile, then as he grasped it in his flippers and took a bite, her expression changed.

“Eww, don't eat raw fish, Penguin! At least let me cook it for you!”

He reached the doorstep and took another bite as his flippers grew shiny and slippery with fish guts.

“It's good,” he said, “Would you like some, Ivy?”

He thrust it towards her and she stepped back sharply.

“No thank you! How many times have I told you _not_ to eat them straight from the lake?”

He waddled into the kitchen, munching on the fish, then it was gone and he gave a belch.

“What's for dinner?” he asked as he opened up his flippers.

“Nothing until you go and wash your flippers!” she told him.

Penguin paused for a moment, then he looked at Ivy, who had been like a mother to him over the passing years.

“I'm glad you're back. It gets too quiet around here. I think too much.”

“About what?” she asked.

There was a look of sadness in his eyes.

“About how I will always be alone, because I am different,” he said.

Ivy didn't know what to say to that. He was a grown man now, and still she protected him from the evil world outside...

“All you need to think about is washing your stinky flippers before we eat!” she reminded him, “And did you water the plants in the greenhouse before you went to the lake?”

“Yes, yes, all done!” he replied as he waddled off to wash his flippers.

Then she heard a sound that briefly startled her : A car was stopping outside?

Ivy dashed up the hallway and wrenched open the door, and her look of dismay was replaced by relief as she saw Jax and Josh get out of the car.

“Ms Pepper,” said Jax as he approached the porch and Josh followed, “There's been an incident...an unfortunate mistake... your location has been leaked to the authorities. The city can do nothing about it because you're over the border – the GCPD will not come for you, but local authority can, and will. They plant to burn the forest at dawn. You must gather your possessions and leave immediately. Josh and I are here to assist you to safety.”

Ivy looked at them in horror.

“I can't leave my plants!”

“Ivy,” Josh added as he joined Jax on the doorstep, “They're coming to burn the forest. And the cops are looking to arrest you. I'm sorry, but you have to leave, there's no other way.”

Ivy's expression turned to one of dismay as she looked about the forest and thought of the plants, then the house that had been her safe haven for many years.

“I can't just leave!” she said tearfully.

Josh stepped closer.

“You can, and you must, or the forest will burn and they will come to arrest you – assuming you get out in time, they don't care,” Josh reminded her, “And you have someone you look after, he's living here? He needs to be safe, too.”

She gave a gasp as a new fear gripped at her heart.

“_Penguin!”_ she said.

Josh and Jax exchanged a puzzled glance :

_The guy's name was Penguin?_

Then a short, round figure waddled up from the shadowy hallway and into the fading light. The man was odd to say the least with his pale, sharp features and his flipper hands. He glared at the two men on his doorstep as he stepped past Ivy and opened up an umbrella as a blade extended from the tip.

“Get the fuck out of here! Leave Ivy alone! This is _our_ home!”

Ivy placed a hand on his arm.

“No!” she said firmly, and Penguin looked at her in confusion.

“But, _strangers_, Ivy!”

“No Penguin, I know these people – this is Josh, he's married to Selina, I told you about him! And this gentleman is Jax Sterling. They work together for Mr Penguin in Gotham City.”

Penguin closed the umbrella and set it aside as his eyes grew wide and so did his smile.

“Ah!” he declared, opening his flippers, “Oswald Cobblepot! I was made from his stolen DNA! It is one of my favourite stories! But my best story is the one Ivy has told me since I was a boy, the tale of how she rescued me from the lab! I would like to meet Oswald. He is my biological father. He doesn't know about me yet, but I want him to know!”

Ivy gave a weary sigh.

“Please not now, Penguin! It would take a lot of explaining and we have to leave!”

Penguin blinked. He drew his flippers close to his chest.

“Leave the forest?”

“Yes, people are on the way to burn the woods and all my plants and we have to save as many as we can...No, l have a better idea...”

The news had sunk in, Ivy was ready to flee as she looked back at Josh and Jax.

“I have a truck parked around the side of the green house. I want you both to dig up as many plants as you can and grab the potted ones, too – we can't save all of them, but we can save some! While you're doing that, I'll gather up all my potions and research data and help Penguin to pack.”

Jax thought back to the sheer scale of her giant greenhouse.

“The greenhouse? But that will take hours!”

Ivy shot him a stony glance.

“I'm _not_ leaving without them!” she said sharply.

Josh and Jax headed off to the greenhouse. Penguin looked scared as he turned to Ivy.

“Where will we go?”

She shook her head.

“I don't know,” she said, “I'll have to find a safe place but I can't risk you too, it's going to be dangerous...” she placed her hands on his shoulders as she looked into his eyes.

“You need to be very brave about this. I'm going to write a note and put it in your coat pocket, and Jax and Josh will take you back to Gotham.”

He raised shaking flippers as his eyes went wide.

“_Without _you?”

“Yes without me, I'm in trouble, Penguin! I'm wanted for crimes back in the city...If they catch me, they'll catch you and...” she placed a hand on his chubby cheek as she looked into his eyes, recalling the tiny boy she had saved from the lab years before, “I don't want to think about what they would do to you! I'm going to send you to Oswald, once he knows about you, he will want to help. You will be safe, I promise.”

Penguin's eyes reflected tears and fear and anger all at the same time.  
_“I don't want to go on my own!”_

“You have to! We don't have a choice!” she told him sharply, “Now let's go upstairs, I'll help you pack.”

Ivy went back up the hallway. Penguin waddled after her with a worried look on his face. The forest had always been his home. He didn't want to leave...

The hours passed by, Jax and Josh had taken off their jackets and rolled up their shirtsleeves and despite their best efforts had still got dirt on their suits with the digging and the transfer of the potted plants to the truck. It took both of them to move the largest Licker plant, the thing woke up and its flower head jerked awake as its tongue flickered out.

“Not tonight,” Josh said, feeling sure the plant had recognised his scent, then they had loaded the plant on to the truck and gone back to fetch more. Ivy came and went, passing them boxes of research material and potions. It was gone four am before the last of the plants had been transferred. Then she led them back through the maze of green covered walkways and out of the green house, returning to the house as she indicated to cases in the hallway.

“The two red leather ones are mine and the big black one is Penguin's,” she said, then she looked about the hallway and up the stairs.

“Penguin, are you ready to go?”

Her voice echoed back at her as a flash of annoyance came to her green eyes and she turned to Jax and Josh.

“I need your help!” she said as frustration crept into her voice, “He doesn't want to leave, he's hiding!”

“Do you know where he might be?” Josh asked, looking about the hallway. The house was vast, and the rooms were dark. He could be anywhere...

“Maybe the forest... I hope not... But he's more likely to be in the house. You check upstairs, I'll look down here.”

“And I shall check the forest close to the house,” Jax told her, and hurried out the front door.

Ivy went off quickly, hurrying up the stairs as she called his name again and got no reply. Josh looked about the long hallway, then set about the daunting task of checking every dim and darkened vine covered room downstairs.

It was _not_ an easy task.

He had to force several doors that had been shut for many years, as vines angrily retreated, losing their hold as doors opened up. He found a room where a piano was covered by overgrown plants and their flower heads opened up, showing weird, peeping eyes within that looked as startled as he did as their petals closed once more. The library was full of brambles with long, sharp thorns and as he took a step into the room as they began to snake down from the ceiling, several of them trailed, ready to lash out. He recalled the thorns that had ripped off his clothing and felt sure these plants were capable of doing much worse. But Penguin wasn't in there, so he stepped out and closed the door. He passed the front room, and clearly, he was not there. Then he looked into a kitchen and one glance told him the room was empty. Then he saw a wooden door set into the wall and took a slow breath as he approached it, and found it open. This was the door to the cellar, and there was a dim light glowing somewhere at the bottom of the wooden staircase. He hoped Ivy didn't keep anything dangerous down there as he began to carefully climb down creaking wooden steps...

Once he reached the bottom, he was surprised to see this room was vast and filled with old furniture. The room was used for storage, and there wasn't a trace of plants in sight. He passed by a sofa covered with a dust sheet, pausing to look behind it, then he looked to the table and chairs stacked nearby. The light from a dim lamp covered by a heavy shade threw out enough light to show the shapes and shadows and the spaces between, no one was here.

But someone had turned that light on... He looked around again.

“Penguin,” he said, “You're not in trouble. Please come out.”

He heard a creak. Turning sharply, he caught a beady eye peeking out from a wardrobe. The door was ajar, and the lamp gave off just enough light to show a glimpse of Penguin's face before he ducked back into shadow.

“Penguin,” Josh said again as he walked over to the wardrobe, “Ivy wants to leave. People are coming to burn the forest, you can't stay here!” he opened the wardrobe and stared inside.

“_What the fuck?”_ he whispered.

It was empty. The old wooden wardrobe was completely vacant, it was just an empty space, yet a moment before, he had seen Penguin in there... _How could he vanish like that?_ Josh thought about it. No one had said anything about Penguin having any kind of special ability. He couldn't vanish into thin air... Josh leaned in, giving the back of the wardrobe a push. A hidden door swung open into a small room beyond. The light was on. Penguin was inside, reaching for a shelf as he took down a small brown teddy bear and brushed off the dust with his flipper. Josh stepped into the hidden room as Penguin turned around. He was still clutching that bear as he looked at him sadly.

“I had no mother or father,” he said, “But Ivy, she is like a mother to me. This was the first toy she ever gave me, when we came here, after the lab. To hope I shall one day give this to my own children is to hope for too much, look at me! No one will want a family with freak a like me. They would be too afraid their children might turn out the same way.”

He paused, looking around the room again, taking in the sight of an old spinning top, a rocking horse, stacks of books and other relics from his childhood. Penguin opened up a flipper as he gestured about the room.

“This is storage space, where everything from my childhood was kept. Now it will burn, like the house and the forest. I always wanted to venture into the world beyond, but not like this, not alone, not knowing everything I called home is gone. Maybe I should just sit here and wait for the flamethrowers to arrive.”

Josh stepped closer, placing a hand on his arm.

“Penguin, you'll die if you stay here. How do you think that would make Ivy feel?”

He gave a heavy sigh.

“You're right, I know. I couldn't do that to her. Where is she?”

“Looking for you!” Ivy said sharply as she looked through the doorway into the smaller room beyond, “Get moving, Penguin – now!”

“Yes, Ivy,” Penguin said reluctantly, then he waddled towards the hidden doorway as Josh followed.

Jax had competed a search of the woodland close to the house. He hoped Penguin had been found, because there was no sign of him outside and soon, the sun would be rising. Too much time had been spent loading up those plants. But Ivy would not have left without them. Then he caught sight of movement in the steadily growing light as night turned closer to dawn:

Men in fireproof clothing armed with flame throwers were making their way through the forest. He saw a burst of orange fire, then another, then more as the forest began to burn. It was spreading fast, and they were heading towards the house.

“It's not yet dawn!” he exclaimed, “Murderers! How could they do this to her?”

Then he turned and ran for the house.

As Ivy, Penguin and Josh stepped outside and turned for the truck, Jax came running over. Just then orange flame spread through nearby woodland as she gave a gasp of horror.

“We have to leave, now!” Jax said urgently, “Ivy, if they see us they will apprehend us and call the cops in! And that fire is spreading! How do we get out of here?”

She was still looking into the distance in horror as she saw them in their fireproof suits, torching the forest as her creations screamed.

“_IVY!” _Jax yelled, grabbing at her arm and pulling her towards him.

“The way out?” Jax demanded as smoke began to curl in their direction as the heat of the fire carried on the breeze and the smell of burning filled the air.

“There's a road that cuts through the forest, I can lead the way in the truck.”

“We have to hurry!” Jax reminded her.

Penguin had seen the flames. He stared in horror as he drew his flippers close to his chest. Ivy hurried over to him and stuffed a sealed envelope into the pocket of his coat.

“Give it to Oswald,” she told him, “I can't take you with me.”

“But Ivy -”

“_I said, No!”_

The passenger door was open. Ivy pushed him into the car, as he fell back and then sat up sharply, he glared at her as she shut the door firmly.

“You're going with Oswald's men!” she said, “I'm sorry, it's too dangerous out there for you! I can't take you on the run with me!”

Jax turned to Josh.

“I'll drive. You sit in the back with Penguin.”

“Where are we going?” Josh asked as they got into the car, “We can't go back, it's on fire!”

“We'll follow Ivy, she knows another exit,” he replied, then as Ivy started up the truck and pulled away quickly, Jax drove on behind, following a winding pathway through the forest as behind them, the flames were spreading fast.

Thick smoke was starting to form as heavy fog, obscuring the route as headlights barely cut through it. Ivy took the truck over an old bridge as the vines that strengthened it snapped and the bridge began to crack and crumble.

“I'm not going to look!” Jax exclaimed, accelerating as he screw his eyes tight shut. Josh hung on to his seat as Penguin shielded his eyes with flippers in front of his face.

The car shot across the bridge as flame caught in the breeze and vines burned, flames chasing across them as strange fruits on shrubbery began to swell and burst like tiny fire bombs. Up ahead was a giant shrub, filled with many, many of those flammable fruits and the flames were already licking it. Ivy had sped past it and turned sharply, taking the truck on to a wider dirt track. As the shrub began to glow and shake as it was engulfed, the car sped past it in a blur. An explosion sounded behind as a ball of orange flame rose up. Jax turned the car sharply as the fire chased them, it blazed on straight into the depths of the forest as they drove through smoke, then the smoke cleared, and as vines parted, Jax took the car through to the other side.

The vines were screaming as the smoke curled around them, sensing the fate of the rest of the forest. Here the road went upward, and looking down into the valley, they saw the house ablaze amid the heart of the inferno as the men with flamethrowers headed away from the fire, retreating to a safe distance. Ivy stopped the truck and got out, tears streaking her face as she looked to the fire and it reflected in her eyes.

“_I can hear them screaming!”_ she sobbed.

“But you saved as many as you could, Josh reminded her as he put an arm around her, “Ivy, what matters now, is you and Penguin are safe.”

In the distance, she heard the wail of sirens.

“_They know! They know I'm here – look after Penguin.”_

She hugged him. He held her tightly, making a promise:

“I will take care of Penguin, I'll take him to Oswald. Don't worry about him.”

She nodded, blinking away tears as she stepped back. She looked to the car, saw Penguin looking out the window and then she turned away, running back to the truck. Cop cars with sirens flashing were on the road on the hillside above, ready to begin the search for Poison Ivy. She took off at speed in the truck, taking the road that led towards town. Josh was still standing there watching as the truck became smaller as it sped off into the distance.

“Josh!” Jax called impatiently, “Why did you get out of the car? We don't have time to waste!”

As soon as that truck had stopped, Josh had got out of the car and run to her, wanting to comfort her as the forest burned. But the fire was behind them now, Ivy was gone and soon cops would be everywhere. Josh hurried back to the car, got in and Jax started up the engine.

“I just wanted to say goodbye to her,” he said as he sat in the back beside Penguin, “I hope she's going to be okay.”

“Let's worry about us now!” Jax exclaimed, and he drove away at speed, heading for the highway.

It would be a long drive back to Gotham, but as they hit the open road, they saw a fleet of squad cars heading the other way. They kept driving onward. Josh felt a sense of relief as he saw the sign posts pointing to the city. They were going home, they had made it. He wanted to think Ivy had made it too, but all he could do was hope for the best – she was on her own now...


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It was almost nine am when they reached the mansion. Josh had called Oswald on the way back to confirm Ivy had got away, and then he had mentioned she had been living with a grown up, adopted son who she was unable to take with her. To say more in front of Penguin as he sat beside him on the back seat, in his opinion, would have been cruel. Josh didn't want to say,_ he's short, he's round, he has a bird like nose and flipper hands, there's no way she could take him anywhere without getting noticed... _So instead, he simply said there were reasons why Ivy could not take him with her. Then he said, the rest was best explained when they reached the mansion.

_And on arriving, it was awkward, at first..._

Molly had taken the oldest kids to school and wasn't back yet. Julian was resting in bed. Oswald was alone outside the house as the car pulled up and Jax and Josh got out as Jax immediately apologised for the state of their clothing, part marked with dirt from the green house and stained with soot from the fire.

“But I see you are both safe and well, thank god!” Oswald said with a smile, “As for Ivy, we can only assume she's gone to ground somewhere... but where she is, will not be the concern of the Gotham underworld. As long as she finds a safe place and can live undetected, she will be fine...”

He stopped, staring over at the car as a short, round man got out. He had a long, pointed nose and flippers for hands. He hesitated for a moment, then he saw Oswald and he began to waddle over to join him.

“Who the hell is _that?_” Oswald said quietly as Penguin approached them.

Jax and Josh exchanged a glance. This would be difficult...

“His name is Penguin,” Jax explained.

“_What?”_ Oswald demanded, feeing utterly confused.

“Ivy raised him,”Josh had stepped closer to his boss as he said it quietly, “She was forced to help with a lab experiment, he was the result. It went wrong and they wanted to kill him, so she saved him, then raised him by herself.”

Penguin had waddled over to join them now. He looked at Oswald and smiled broadly as he opened up a flipper.

“_Oswald Cobblepot!”_ he said joyfully in a gruff voice, _“I came from your DNA!”_

Oswald's jaw dropped as he stared at Penguin, who thrust an envelope into his hand. He slowly shook his head.

“No, there's been some kind of misunderstanding, I'm sure...”

Molly's car pulled up in the driveway. She saw them standing there, along with a short, round man with flipper hands, and she got out of the car and hurried over.

“Hello,” she said, feeling a mix of curiosity and sympathy for the man who clearly had many birth defects.

“Mrs Cobblepot!” he said warmly, reaching for her hand and briefly closing it in soft, warm flippers, “Wife of Oswald! It is an honour to meet you! I am Penguin.”

He smiled.

Molly blinked.

“Penguin?” she repeated, feeling confused... that was her husband's criminal name...

Oswald was standing there reading Ivy's letter. Molly saw him take a deep breath and then he blinked back tears. He passed the letter to Molly and she read it:

_'Dear Oswald, _

_Many years ago I was tricked into capture by Jeremiah Valeska. He had stolen a sample of your DNA and planned to create a clone and have you killed and replaced. I had no choice but to work with his scientists. Penguin's growth was accelerated and that's when something went wrong. At five years old, he started to deform. They stopped the process and for a weeks, they studied him then decided to kill him. I saved him, I took him away with me and raised him. As you know I'm on the run again. He can't come with me. Penguin is unusual to look at and people can be cruel that's why I've shielded him from the world. But he needs shelter and protection, so please, take care of him. He is fifty percent your DNA. Biologically, your son. I'll come back for him when I've found a safe place to stay – Ivy.' _

Molly looked at Oswald, who had looked to Penguin and blinked away tears.

“Velaska's evil work, turned you into this,” he said sadly, “My old enemy... who would have thought he could have done such a thing to a child? I suppose, under the circumstances, you are considered my biological son. I wish Ivy had told me sooner!”

Penguin blinked in surprise.

“Ivy didn't tell anyone!” he said as he started to smile, “When I was tiny she said I was her little dumpling, all hers and _not_ for sharing!”

Oswald smiled proudly. There was something likeable about the strange man with flipper hands and he was certain he could feel that bond they shared, too. Molly smiled too on hearing Penguin's remark. She could imagine how cute he had been, an adorable little kid with flipper hands. Clearly, Ivy loved him very much.

“I never mixed with people,” Penguin added, “I tried, but even when I was a boy, they bullied me. Ivy used to say I wasn't ugly. She said I was clever and handsome!”

Those words sparked a memory as Oswald looked in surprise at Penguin.

“That's just what my dear Mother said to me when I was a child! Ivy must love you so very much. And you are welcome to stay.”

Oswald briefly grasped his flippers as he smiled brightly.

“Welcome home, Penguin Cobblepot!”

Penguin's broad smile got even wider as he looked from Molly to Oswald.

“Thank you,” he said, “You are very kind.”

Then Oswald kindly put an arm around his shoulders and led him into the house, eagerly telling him the history of the place and how it had been his ancestral home for generations.

Molly turned back to Josh and Jax. They were covered in dirt and soot and stunk like a bonfire.

“Leave Penguin's case in the hallway,” she said, indicating to the case Penguin had left by the car, “Then I want you guys to go home, get cleaned up and take a couple of days off – you've earned it!”

“Thanks, Molly!” Josh said warmly.

Jax briefly held up a metallic hand, politely asking for silence as he cut in.

“Forgive me for saying this, Molly – but we are supposed to take orders only from Mr Penguin. Your husband has not confirmed we can have time off.”

Molly laughed.

“Oswald's busy with his long lost relative! And you guys have done more than enough to earn time off. Go on, get out of here – go home and have a bath, you need to get cleaned up!”

Jax smiled warmly.

“Thank you, Mrs Cobblepot, we will most certainly do that!”

“And no talking about Ivy,” she reminded them, “Oswald wants every employee under him to know that from now on, no disclosing any work details to spouses or other family members, not after the Poison Ivy incident, okay?”

“I'll send that order out by text when I get home,” Jax told her.

“And then you're off work for two days,” Molly reminded him.

Jax gave a small bow.

“Yes, Mrs Cobblepot! Thank you. I shall go home right now.”

“Thanks,” Josh added, “And I won't talk about work to Selina, she's only going to worry if she hears about the fire and Ivy going on the run.”

“It will be in the press soon enough,” Molly replied, recalling the headlines from the day before, when the biggest paper in the city had a front page picture of Ed accidentally naming Ivy, and the headline had said, _You want to thank WHO, Mr Nygma? _The media loved to jump on anything remotely scandalous when linked to the underworld – Oswald had to be so careful with his reputation, as it was common knowledge he had once been linked to the Legion of Horribles. To link his name to Ivy, wanted on terrorism charges, really would put the alliance on shaky ground if she was apprehended and Oswald tried to intervene...

“Let's hope they just run a story saying she's on the run and maybe nothing will ever come of it,” Josh replied, “She's good at hiding. She hid all those years in the forest, I'm sure she'll find a safe place for herself and then get in touch.”

Molly nodded.

“Let's hope so,” she replied, “I really do wish her the best, she helped to save Julian's life. I'll always be grateful.”

Just then his phone rang, and Josh checked the number.

“Excuse me, my wife is calling.”

Molly smiled.

“Go home and enjoy your time off,” she told him, then as Josh walked back to the car to join Jax, he was talking to Selina, telling her he was finally on his way back.

Molly turned away as the car left the driveway and went back inside. She found Oswald and Penguin sitting in the front room as Oswald chatted about family, mentioning Julian was upstairs, but resting. Little Felix had toddled up to Penguin, who had pulled a small, faded teddy bear from his coat and handed it to him.

“It was mine when I was little. You can look after it for me,” he said with a smile.

Felix smiled back at him, hugged the bear then toddled off with it as he headed for his bean bag in front of the TV. Molly noticed that bear was a little dusty, and as soon as Felix was ready for a nap, it would be taking a trip to the washing machine for a quick wash and dry before he woke... But it was nice of Penguin to share that toy, it looked old. She guessed he hadn't been able to save much from the fire, but clearly, that toy had great sentimental value.

She watched as he sat there talking and listening, now and then gesturing with his flippers as he and Oswald shared a conversation that clearly, was bonding them already. She decided she would wait, leave them to get to know each other, and mention later that Jax and Josh had been given time off after their ordeal in the forest. While Oswald was talking with Penguin, she left the room and went up the hallway, then she took his suitcase to the laundry room and started to pile the clothing into the washing machine. Obviously Ivy had loved plants a little too much, Penguin and his clothing smelled of damp.

“But not any more,” she said as she finished loading the machine and switched it on as she smiled, “No more being stinky, Penguin...”

Then she made tea and took it through to the front room, Oswald briefly thanked her and carried on talking to Penguin, who was telling him about his life with Ivy in the forest. Molly went upstairs to talk to Julian, to explain Oswald sort of had a son – not conceived by him, but he was a Cobblepot, and he had flippers for hands...

_A month passed by._

Now the leaves were starting to turn and summer was gone. Penguin had settled in well. He was full of surprises too, like, he lacked table manners – something that annoyed Oswald. He was also crude and fond of dirty jokes, which made Julian laugh a lot. Oswald was growing very fond of his flipper handed son, even though Penguin had shocked him, coming up to him and thrusting his phone into his hand asking for help because his app for the Gotham City Porn Channel wasn't working. It seemed Penguin was desperate for a girlfriend, and frustrated that he had never been able to get one.

But he had become a member of the family quickly. Oswald and Molly had both grown fond of him, and he was great with the kids. Little Felix still had that bear and he snuggled up to it every night, and that was fine with Molly, because now it had been washed more than once. Luna liked to sit with Penguin as he read her stories. Cain liked to hear his tales of life in the forest, and Penguin often went with Oswald to take the kids to the park, where he enjoyed being close to nature as the surroundings reminded him of home.

_And still Ivy had not been in touch._

_Where ever she had gone, she was hiding from the cops, and had no intention of making contact any time soon... _

One afternoon Oswald was in his study, taking a drink mid afternoon as he watched the wind scatter falling leaves outside as he thought about his arrangement with Molly and Julian. Since returning home after the surgery, Julian had made good progress. He was recovering well, regaining his strength. His hair was growing back too, now it was a short crop that just about covered the scars on his head. The pain had stopped, he was off the meds, and he coped well. But he was still in the wheelchair, and still unable to function sexually.

Molly had been so understanding when he had taken her to Julian after explaining his difficulty. She had wrapped her arms around him and promised him it didn't matter, that she still loved him the same as always. Then she had kissed him and Julian had nervously glanced at Oswald, aware that he had been in the room as she did that, and Oswald had smiled, saying, _Please, don't let my presence put you off! _He had not mentioned the fact that watching that deep and passionate kiss had stirred arousal. For now, Julian was still recovering, and after all he had been through, it was clear it would take time for him to get back to as near normal as he could. If he ever walked again, he would be limited and definitely need a cane, and his limp would be a great deal worse than Oswald's - but he was cured now, and that was all that mattered.

Oswald was still thinking about doing something special to mark their three way relationship. Then the idea came to him, so he called Ed Nygma for help, because if anyone knew someone who could do this, it would be Ed...

“Oswald!” Ed said warmly, “It's so good to hear from you!”

As he paused before replying to Ed's enthusiastic greeting on picking up the phone, Oswald recalled how apologetic Ed had been after accidentally letting Ivy's name slip to the press.

“_I know I fucked up.” Ed had admitted, “And I'm sorry, Oswald – but I didn't know she was still wanted. I knew nothing about the warrant.”_

“_And I assumed that you did, so we are both to blame, my friend,” Oswald had replied..._

That argument was over with. And Ed was only too keen to help as Oswald explained everything.

“Molly and I have an arrangement with Julian,” he told him, “It's an intimate arrangement – Molly and Julian fool around and I enjoy the thought of it.”

“Oh wow!” Ed said excitedly, “This is hot!”

Oswald gave a sigh of impatience.

“And this _must _remain confidential because I faked paperwork claiming to be Julian's real father back when I prevented Shepard from putting him back in the asylum!” he reminded him.

”Oh dear. That complicates things. You can't be open about it, then...”

“No, Edward I can't be open. But I wouldn't want to be – it's a private matter. But I have decided I would like our relationship to be blessed. However, this is difficult, given that I am the head of the underworld and the city has been led to believe Julian is my son! I can't change it now, because a lot of documents were forged. Partly to take revenge on Shepard but mostly, to prevent him from causing further harm to Julian. So you see, I need someone who can bless us and keep their mouth shut. And you know so many people, Ed. Can you think of anyone who can help?”

Ed paused for thought.

“Well yes, there is one person... she will do it for a fat fee and never open her mouth. She believes all love is universal and sacred power and... lots of other stuff, too. She wouldn't say a word about it to anyone else, she believes in what she does...” he chuckled, “She married some woman to her _horse_ last week!”

“A horse?” Oswald exclaimed.

“She's a bit..._ Out there_... actually, she's_ way_ out there!” Ed laughed again, “But I'll speak to her, we'll arrange something...”

_And Ed did arrange it._

They chose a Saturday, when Luna was with_ Fish Mommy_ for the weekend and their other two kids were out with Connor and Alex, who both had the day off work, and Penguin had gone along too, keen to help out.

Now Molly was in her room, getting ready for the blessing. She was wearing a short, sleek dress covered with ivory lace and as she stood there in front of the mirror, she recalled how surprised she had been when Oswald had told her of these plans. What a wonderful thing to do, what a beautiful thing for the three of them to share... She smiled at her reflection, she didn't look like a bride, but she certainly looked special in that fine lace. And she looked as happy as she felt as she made her way down the stairs, where Oswald was waiting at the bottom, wearing a dark blue suit. His hair was spiked up and there was a sparkle in his eyes as he looked at his radiant wife.

“Julian is waiting for us outside,” he said, and they linked arms and Oswald escorted Molly through the house and out to the garden, where a garland of flowers had been tied over an archway and beside it, a low wall now had candles and more flowers on a makeshift altar.

Julian was waiting at that altar. He was in his wheelchair and wearing a dark suit, and he looked at Molly as love reflected in his gaze. As they joined him, Oswald placed a hand on his shoulder, leaning close and whispering something Molly didn't catch. She looked about the garden.

“I thought we needed witnesses?”

“Sorry I'm late!” Ed said as he dashed around the side of the house, the autumn sun caught on his shimmering green suit as he flashed them a smile and then stood back at a short distance from the altar.

“Where's this woman who's going to do the ceremony?” Molly said, looking about the garden.

Julian laughed as amusement danced in his gaze and he looked up at Molly.

“She's here, I've met her!” he laughed again.

“What's so funny?” Molly asked.

Julian smirked.

“You'll see,” he said.

Then she stepped out from behind a tree in a silver cape and a long white dress. Her hair was a short black bob that framed her face and her eyes looked a little more than dreamy, _out of it_, was the phrase Molly had been thinking...

“Hello earthlings,” she said in a soft voice that was almost a whisper, “My name is Marigold.”

Oswald stared at her.

Molly looked at Oswald, whose expression said, _What the actual fuck is this?_

Marigold spoke again.

“_I am a multi celestial belief priestess tied to no specific faith,” _she stated_, “I am a child of the cosmos. And today you will make your vows beneath the sky to celebrate your triangle of love.”_

Oswald glanced back at Ed. That_ What the fuck _look was back. Ed grinned and gave a shrug. Molly glanced back at Ed, then looked to Marigold.

“Excuse me...”

“Yes, star child?” she said, and Julian looked away sharply as he bit his lip trying not laugh.

“Erm.... shouldn't there be two witnesses?” Molly asked.

Marigold raised a slender hand, pointing to the wall next to Ed.

“You have two witnesses. The other is my soul mate Timothy. We were married in a previous life, in this lifetime, he is a cactus.”

Julian looked away quickly, turning a laugh into a cough. Then he looked behind him, and Molly and Oswald looked too. They all thought the same thing about the long, thin cactus sat on the wall in a ceramic pot, with its bulb shaped head...

“I shall now light the candles,” said Marigold, and as she turned away to light candles in glass jars, Julian looked up at Molly and Oswald as he leaned back in his chair and dropped his voice to whisper.

“That cactus looks just like a _cock!_”

“Yes, we know that!” Oswald said, “_Stop_ laughing, Julian!”

Julian giggled as he met Molly's gaze.

“That cactus,” he whispered, “It reminds me... you know what they say, anything's a dildo if you're brave enough!”

Molly's hand flew to her mouth as she stifled a laugh. Oswald smirked and looked away, then smiled politely at Marigold as she returned from lighting the candles. Then all thoughts shifted to why they were doing this as Molly stood before Oswald and Julian sat beside him, turning his chair to face her.

“Now you shall all stand together and each say your vows of eternal love.” said Marigold.

Molly was about to point out that Julian couldn't stand, but then Oswald briefly placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Ready?”

Julian looked up at him as they exchanged a smile.

“Yes, I think so,” Julian said nervously, then he leaned on the arm rest of his chair as Oswald put an arm around him and helped him up. He kept an arm around him for support and then handed him his cane, shifting weight from his damaged leg. Julian saw pride shining in Oswald's gaze.

“I told you practise would make perfect,” he reminded him.

She was absolutely stunned...._ Oswald had been working with Julian to help him stand up for this?_ Julian saw the look on her face and smiled shyly.

“Surprise,” he said quietly to Molly, then he reached for her hand, then she held Oswald's hand too.

Oswald spoke first, of his undying love for her and his devotion to Julian. Molly was choked up with tears as she held their hands tightly and told them she would love them both forever, and added that nothing would ever diminish her love for them, and that both Oswald and Julian were perfect in her eyes, because the love they shared was unconditional. Julian hesitated before he spoke, pausing to remember all he wanted to say. Then, stating his name as Lambrick instead of Cobblepot, he said his life was complete because he shared it with both of them, and he never knew it was possible to love and be loved so greatly until now, and he was thankful for it.

Then Marigold gave a blessing as they exchanged rings – Oswald and Julian wore thin platinum bands, Oswald's sat above his wedding ring and so did Molly's, but hers was thinner and encrusted with tiny diamonds. Then Marigold said they may kiss. Molly leaned in kissing Oswald first, then Julian. Then Oswald, still standing with his arm around Julian, kissed his cheek fondly. Julian had to turn slightly and lean against him as he kissed his cheek in return, then with the ceremony over, Oswald thanked Marigold for the blessing as Julian sat back down in his chair.

“I didn't know you could stand up!” Molly said in surprise.

Julian laughed.

“I can just about stand, Oswald helped me practise. But I can't stand for long and I'm glad to be back in my chair!”

Ed Nygma had a warm smile on his face as he took pictures of the three of them, then he hugged Oswald, then Molly, then leaned down to hug Julian.

“Congratulations to you all,” he said, then his smile faltered “I wish Lee was open to a three way relationship. I'd even settle for one off threesome! But no, she won't do it...”

Molly laughed as she shook her head.

“You never give up trying to persuade her to be kinky! Forget it Ed, Lee's not the type! And thanks for finding Marigold... she is a bit odd, though!”

Ed gave her a wink.

“I know _lots_ of odd people!” he said proudly, “And now I'm off to help her pack up and leave before the kids get back.”

“Thanks for your help today,” Oswald said.

“It was a pleasure to be here,” Ed told him sincerely.

Then he went off to help Marigold pack away the altar, and as the three of them headed back towards the house, Molly briefly held them up, standing in front of Oswald and Julian as she reached for her husband then her lover and kissed them both as the breeze tugged leaves from the trees and they fluttered down. It wasn't confetti, but perhaps it was more beautiful, as if nature itself was giving a seal of approval on their vows of love.

After Ed and Marigold had left, the three of them sat down together in the front room and shared a few drinks. Molly sat in the middle of the sofa as Oswald helped Julian out of his chair, then they sat either side of her. She put her arms around both of them, and they shared her kisses. Then as Oswald's eyes darkened with arousal she gave him a glance, a silent look to remind him it wouldn't be fair to take it further in front of Julian, who still couldn't make love. A short while later, Julian was feeling tired. Molly and Oswald helped him up the stairs and the exertion of being out of his chair that long and struggling with the stairs had made Julian break into a heavy sweat.

“I'm fine, I just need my bed, stairs are hard enough to take on but I've also had too much wine today,” Julian said, “I just need some rest.”

“I think a nice warm bath would help first,” Molly suggested.

“I would love that!” Julian told her with a smile.

Oswald ran the bath while Molly went into Julian's room and made the bed and closed the curtains and turned on the bedside lamp. It wasn't yet dark outside, but Julian was still recovering and slept heavily and often. The kids and Penguin had gone back to Connor's place for a while. They wouldn't be back until later, and Luna was with Fish all weekend, so they had plenty of time to indulge in some time together, just the three of them.

Molly didn't know it, but what was about to happen would bring them even closer – and certainly give Oswald a new perspective on what he wanted from this three-way relationship...

Oswald had helped Julian undress. Julian had told him he didn't have to do this, Molly could do it, but Oswald had smiled and said it was an honour to assist him. As he took off his shirt, he briefly glanced at his toned chest, and it brought to mind memories of Ed Nygma back in the old days. Ed's body was lean and athletic, too... He helped him into the water just as Molly walked in, and then he stepped back, saying he would let her take over.

“I'll leave you to it, have fun!” Oswald said with a gleam in his eyes, then he limped out of the bathroom, leaving the door open.

Molly knelt down and placed a hand on his chest, sliding it down his body as Julian lay in the warm, scented water.

“Today will always be special for the three of us,” she said to him, “And when you stood up I was so happy I wanted to cry!”

She leaned in and kissed him softly as her hand beneath the water slid lower, and as she brushed against his cock, he felt a jolt of arousal.

“Molly!” he said urgently, reaching under the water, guiding her hand, “Quick... I'm hard, I'm actually hard!”

Molly closed her hand around his cock, firmly jerking him as he panted, impatient to stay hard and reach orgasm.

“_Come on... stay hard...”_ he whispered, _“Oh yes... I'm getting there. I'm trying to...”_

He gave a gasp as he tried to thrust beneath her grip, it felt like a struggle as he held on to the side of the bath so he didn't go under as she worked her magic on him, keeping him hard as he focused on orgasm.

“_I will get there...”_ he whispered as he looked up at her, _“Don't stop, Molly... I can't believe I'm hard again! I will come... I'm trying so hard to get there...”_

“It's okay, just enjoy it,” Molly said softly.

“_I will come...”_ he gasped, holding on tightly to the side of the bath, still struggling to reach a point of no return.

Oswald had heard Julian gasp and as he limped into the bathroom, he looked in surprise at the sight of Julian, laying back in the water, holding on to the edge for support as Molly knelt on the bathmat, her hand below the water as she masturbated him.

“_I will come, I'm trying so hard!”_ Julian said again.

Oswald limped into the room, leaned over the bath and put an arm around Julian's shoulders.

“Yes, you can do it,” he said tenderly, “I'm here, watching my naughty wife work a miracle with your cock... and I'm enjoying it _very_ much indeed...”

Molly glanced at Oswald and saw deep arousal in his eyes. Julian was getting harder as he lay there, with Oswald's arm around him as he whispered words of encouragement.

“_It won't be long before Molly has you restrained in that playroom, your nurse Molly...” _Oswald said, pausing run a hand over Julian's short wet hair, then he brushed away droplets of water from his brow, _“And maybe Doctor Oswald might join in too... he would certainly like to treat his slut wife for her sex addiction... maybe you too, Julian...”_

“_Oh fuck... fuck yes!”_

Julian gave a small gasp, then Molly jerked him harder as his cock throbbed and he came in a weak spurt as semen mixed with bath water. Julian laughed and gave a sob at the same time as he looked up, first seeing Oswald and then looking to Molly.

“_I got hard! I've come... it still works! I never thought I'd be able to do it again but I can!”_

He gave another sob and it was Oswald who held him, he wrapped his arms around him as Julian sat up in the bath and wept tears of relief against his shoulder. Molly leaned in, stroking Julian's hair as he recovered. It hadn't been a heavy, powerful orgasm, but for Julian, what had once been impossible had just happened. He was overjoyed to know he was still capable of making love.

Soon after, Molly and Oswald helped Julian into his room and into bed, then they sat beside him and talked for a short while.

“Oswald has a surprise for you,” Molly told him.

After all the exertion of the day, standing up at the altar and then having the wine, followed by his sudden arousal and orgasm in the bathroom, Julian's eyes were growing heavy as he lay in bed.

“Another one? _Doctor Oswald_ was a huge surprise... I hope you're going to do that, I really like that idea...”

Molly glanced at Oswald.

“I hope so too,” she said, feeling an ache between her legs. Her knickers were soaked, they had been since Julian had got aroused, but after hearing Oswald saying that about dominating her in the playroom, she was heavily turned on.

Oswald smiled as he looked at her.

“I have every intention of taking our adventures further, my dear,” he assured her.

Julian looked up at Oswald.

“So what's this other surprise?”

Molly smiled, saying nothing as Oswald explained.

“We're having some alterations done to the house - for you. A few of the doorways need to be wider for your chair. And I'm having an elevator installed, so you don't have to struggle with the stairs any more.”

Julian smiled.

“Thanks, it means a lot. But it's a lot of work, are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure!” Oswald told him, “We both love you and we don't want you to struggle.”

Gratitude reflected in his gaze as he looked up at them.

“I love you both so much.”

“And we love you,” Molly said softly.

Shortly after, they left Julian to sleep and went back to their bedroom, where Oswald closed the door firmly as Molly dropped to her knees. He was impatient to free his cock after the events in the bathroom, and Molly took him straight into her mouth as she sucked him hard and fast. Oswald leaned against the closed door looking down as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“_My bad, dirty wife!”_ he said, feeling his balls go tight.

Molly briefly released him, pausing to kiss an old scar on his hip.

“_My horny, battle scarred Penguin,”_ she whispered against the head of his cock, then she took him in her mouth again, sucking hard as he thrust against her, calling her _slut wife_ as he came sharply in warm spurts into her mouth.

Less than two hours later, Connor returned with the kids and Penguin. Julian was upstairs sleeping and Molly reminded the kids to be quiet. Connor stayed for half an hour then went home to Alex. Fish called soon after, so Luna could say goodnight. Oswald put Felix to bed and Cain went to bed by seven thirty, tired out from his busy day with the family. Penguin had headed straight for the kitchen, piled food high on a plate and waddled off to his room to eat and then watch TV.

Oswald and Molly went to bed around nine pm. They lay together embracing under warm covers as they thought about how wonderful the day had been. Then as she held him, Molly asked a question.

“Do you think the three of us will ever share a bed?”

Oswald was on his back with his arm around her. He turned his head and met her gaze.

“When Julian first came into this family, I recalled him as my adopted cousin, that poor boy with a bully for a father... a part of me always wanted to save him from that life, Molly. And I think when I saw him years later, and he was a man who had been through a terrible ordeal, my instinct was to protect him. We could have been brothers – if my Mother had been able to take him from Shepard. But her sister never would have agreed to that. And I did try and love him as a son, but brotherly love was a closer definition. That was when I still had a barrier, Molly. I didn't think I could or should feel anything else for him – or anyone, because I'm married to you. But you've opened a door for me and I never want it to close because I keep finding such wonders behind it! So my answer is, maybe. I don't know. I'm just going to enjoy this and find out what feels right for me, as we go on this wonderful adventure together!”

Molly smiled as she pulled him closer and they shared a kiss.

“I love seeing you like this, so liberated and happy.”

“And long may it continue!” Oswald said proudly, “I have never been so content!”

Oswald turned out the light and settled down to sleep. Molly lay there in his arms, watching as the wind chased fallen leaves past the window. It felt as if life could only get better, as if all the shadows of the past had faded away. _They had much to look forward to. _

_She just hoped she had no more nightmares._

_It had been a while since Jeremiah had invaded her dreams._

_Maybe he had gone away forever._

_She hoped so, but at the back of her mind, that nagging doubt remained. _

_Maybe it was too much to hope that no trouble would ever shadow their lives again..._

That was her last thought as she drifted off to sleep:

_Please let it stay like this. Let us be happy, that's all I want, a happy life with those I love. No more shadows, no more fear, no more danger..._

She held on to that thought as she drifted off to sleep in Oswald's arms, holding on to hope in her heart that life would stay like this, with no more clouds on the horizon.

_But in a city like Gotham, as the wife of Oswald Cobblepot, perhaps that was too much to ask... Time would tell, giving her that answer, as it always did. Nothing ever stayed perfect in Gotham City, not forever. But at least for now, it was as good as it was going to get..._

End of Part 5

**This serial is to be continued with His Irish Angel Part 6 : Eye of the Storm.**


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